2012 March 16 - Morning Manna

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south (Gen 12:1-8).

Today's Morsel: How long have you been waiting for your promise from God? Are you aware that Abraham received his promise at 75 years old but did not have a son until he was 100 years old? That is 25 years later. That kind of sheds some light on why he and Sarah didn't wait on God!

We, too, are often times like Abraham and Sarah and take matters into our hands after a long time of waiting. But we must learn patience. Not that you should pray for it. I’m sure Abraham felt that his promise would happen within a few years after God told him, since he was obedient and departed when God ask him to. Even today, some ministers close their church doors and go somewhere else because they knew that they heard from God to start a church in a certain area, but it just didn’t happen in their timing and so their patience runs out. It has been said that patience is a virtue. I read some facts in my devotion the other day and would like to share it with you: "It takes an unborn elephant 22 months to mature to birth. The shark known as the spiny dogfish has a pregnancy of 22-24 months. And at the elevation of 4600 feet, the Alpine Salamander endures a gestational period of up to 38 months." I can’t think of any woman that would like to be pregnant that long, do you? Paul said that even nature teaches us. We must always remember that God’s ways and His timing are not according to our scale. Friend, if you have a promise from God, just hold on. It will come to pass, even if you have to wait 25 years - or longer.

Sing: The Lord of my life, he has never failed, on my own I could never succeed; this one I came to know, there’s so much I owe, and I cannot fail the Lord.