Hearing His Voice #211

[The Lord said,] “I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”

Jeremiah 1:12, NIV

Countless people are holding on to what they believe is a God-given dream, vision, or purpose—and are thoroughly frustrated by how long it’s taking to happen or how many detours they have had to take. It can be extremely painful to live between a promise and its fulfillment, wondering whether it has been lost, forgotten, forfeited, thwarted, or eternally delayed. It often seems as if God speaks and then sits on His words without doing anything about them.

As frustrating as this is, it’s normal for God. He gave Joseph dreams and then took long years and a very winding path to make them manifest. He anointed David as king and then let obstacles to his throne stand in the way for a confusingly extended time. Abraham, Moses, Caleb and Joshua, the captives of Babylon—all of them waited far longer than they expected to. God has a confounding tendency to speak long before He plans to fulfill.

Even while we wait, God is working behind the scenes. And during the process, our faith is stretched seemingly beyond its breaking point, though in the end, we find that it hasn’t broken. We wrestle with God, ask many questions, cry out in desperation, and exercise more spiritual muscles than we thought we had. And it’s terribly uncomfortable. But it’s necessary. This is how God develops His people and prepares them for the weight of their calling.

Don’t give up on the things God has spoken. It may seem that He has forgotten them or chosen another direction, but He hasn’t. He had enough foresight to speak only what He intended to accomplish. If He has said it, He will act on it. He is watching to see that His words are fulfilled.

Lord, I don’t understand why Your process takes so long, nor why the path is so indirect. But I trust You. I know Your words are true, even years after You’ve spoken them. I’m choosing to cling to them in faith.