According to Bible Gateway, there are 5,467 promises of God in the Bible. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ which means ‘Yes’ ascends to God for his glory.” This verse says that every single promise is for those who are believers in Christ and led by the Holy Spirit. All promises have been fulfilled in Christ.
2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself.” Taking a look at the verse, to be faithless means “without faith,” having the sense of “unbelieving” or “disbelieving.” If we are unbelieving, God remains faithful. The verse also says, “for He cannot deny Himself.” This tells me God’s Word is true; He cannot lie. So if it’s in the Bible, it’s His Word, and everything in His Word will come to pass, even if we lack faith.
In the book of Genesis, we read about Abraham and Sarah. He was 80 years old, and Sarah was now well past menopause; she couldn’t have any children. Yet, they desired them. God made a covenant with Abraham. He told Abraham to go outside his tent and look up. God promised Abraham that he and Sarah would be the father and mother of all nations and that the number of stars in the sky was how many descendants he and Sarah would have.
Sarah hadn’t borne any children for Abraham and became impatient. Sarah encouraged Abraham to sleep with Hagar, Sarah’s slave Hagar. Hagar conceived a child, and his name was Ishmael. Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.
When Abraham was 99 years old, God promised that all the earth’s nations would be blessed through Abraham’s descendants. God promised Abraham that Sarah would conceive the promised child, Isaac. God would establish His covenant with Isaac as an everlasting covenant for his descendants. Jesus was in the lineage of Isaac. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed. They questioned the news in utter disbelief. Sarah may have laughed, but God’s promise to them, the desire for a child, came to pass. She gave birth to her son, Isaac. His name means laughter. Abraham and Sarah, for a brief moment in time, lacked faith in what God had promised. But their lack of faith didn’t prevent God from holding back on His promises.
God promises to all believers the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has many roles: Comforter, advocate, helper, teacher, guide, convictor of sin, empowerer, and comforter. And the Spirit gives gifts to us. They are the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I’ve heard some people say (I, too, am guilty) I never have any peace or joy. This statement is entirely untrue. You do have peace and joy. You don’t need to ask Him for the fruit of the Spirit; you already have all of them. Don’t doubt His gifts. Thank Him for them, and walk in them.
God doesn’t always heal everyone from illnesses, injuries, and diseases, but He promises He will never leave you, just as He never left His Son’s side as He died on the cross. I heard about this 26-year-old man named Willy from Singapore who, at work one day, began having horrible chest pains. At first, he inaccurately thought they were due to his coffee consumption. His doctor initially prescribed him painkillers, which didn’t help. The pains were so severe they caused him to fall to the floor, gasping for air. He was rushed to the hospital. His doctor performed many tests to determine the cause of his pain, but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. He lost confidence in the doctors. When Willy was at his absolute lowest, he remembered the God he knew from his younger years: the God whom his girlfriend (now wife) in high school knew. He says, “While praying, I thought, God, I am at a complete loss. I don’t know what to do. If You are real, can You do something to help? And as I finished praying, I felt an inexplicable peace wash over me. Through the prayer, I felt that God was in control of the situation and that I could trust Him to deliver me.”
Willy had to have several blood transfusions, a bone marrow aspiration test, and then chemotherapy. It was then that he was told he had leukemia and would need a bone marrow transport. There was only a 25% chance of finding a bone marrow match from a sibling, or he’d have to get on the global donor list. Willy said his best friend came to visit him in the hospital and shared with him Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” For much of his life, Willy had it pretty trouble-free, but his sickness brought him to his knees. The verses completely humbled him. Willy accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. By the grace of God, his younger brother was a donor match, and after several very intense treatments lasting 1 1/2 years, he was healed of cancer. He asked God why he wasn’t healed instantly, but the Lord showed him that He wanted him to go through the whole treatment so he could be a testimony to others battling cancer as a hope of God’s goodness.
Willy’s father grew up in the church but never accepted Christ because his parents were Buddhists. His father was diagnosed with tuberculosis with a suspicion of cancer. His father initially wanted to wait until his mom had passed away before he accepted Christ, but due to his health condition, he knew he didn’t have time. That night, Willy talked to his dad about the gospel, and his father accepted the Lord. Not too long after this, his father was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer with only 3 months to live. Even though this was during the heavy Covid restrictions, arrangements were made for his mom and siblings to visit. He openly shared the gospel with them. He passed away the next day.
https://ymi.today/2022/04/meeting-god-in-cancer-and-death/#comments
What happens when things are taking too long? When you start to feel impatient that your prayers haven’t been answered yet? Have faith. Know this: God is extraordinarily patient. His timing is always the right timing. He’s never late, not always early either, bummer. I, too, have been on my knees in prayer to God to take away my depression, only to be met with nothing. I hadn’t heard from God or felt His presence for a long time. But in hindsight, He was always there with me and, at times, carrying me.
See with your eyes of faith. Believe that God will do what you feel is impossible because nothing is impossible with God. Hold firm to your faith and believe in Him. Abraham had absolutely no reason to believe the promises God made to him. But he did, and all of those promises came to pass, and he waited 25 years.
It can be a test of faith when you come up against opposition, and it seems like all the odds are against you. Put away the negative mindset. Have a positive outlook regarding your life and possibilities for your future. See things as they could be, not as they are currently. Speak out loudly how you want your circumstances to look. For example, don’t say, “I really want to go on a mission trip, but my funds are lacking right now. I never get any good breaks.” Instead, say, “God, thank you for your favor. Thank you for increasing my funds. Thank you that I am a lender and not a borrower.” God goes to work on your behalf when you say encouraging, uplifting words and don’t complain.
Stacey Womack is an attendee of a church in Hillsboro, Oregon. She was not an abuse victim herself, but she felt the call on her life to start an abuse recovery ministry. She opened the business in 1997. Abuse Recovery Ministry Services (ARMS) is now serving nationally and internationally. ARMS serves both victims and perpetrators of abuse from a faith perspective. Stacey was awarded the Judge Stephen B. Herrall award in 2012 for outstanding collaborative efforts to end family violence. So many people have been helped because she responded to her desire to start this ministry.
Get to know God and His Word. Rely on Him, who is your provider. Never think of any desire or promise God has placed in your heart as too complicated. Take your eyes off the impossibilities; you’re only looking at things in the natural. Look to the supernatural: Look to God. Rely on Him, who is your provider. Even if you lack faith in the promises of God, this doesn’t mean God won’t deliver on His promise. Walk by faith, not by sight, believing in His promises. And lastly, don’t laugh too seriously, friends.
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