SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11:11-12 NIV And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
THOUGHT: The future always seems so far away, doesn’t it, until it all catches up with us. One day, we’re 18 with so much life and so many decisions ahead – the next we’re thinking about end-of-life issues – if not for us, for our parents. If we could cast ourselves out 10 generations would we be astonished at the family tree traced back to us? Abraham and Sarah had been promised a child decades before the promise was fulfilled – and God had told Abraham his descendants would outnumber the stars. But decades is a long time to hold on in a state of barrenness and hope deferred when you feel the promise has passed you by.
The tension of hope is one of the hardest tensions to live in. How do we keep our hearts open to hope when the promise is slow, when we can’t see the evidence, when the dreams seem a wasted effort? I believe one way is studying those who’ve successfully done it – and another is drawing near to the God whom they loved even when they couldn’t see the answers.
SONG: More Than Anything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-8EL-ZvIO8
PRAYER: We draw near to you, God, and ask you to draw near to us, breathing hope and a future into us. Help us trust you in the tension between the now and not yet; to love you more than any thing.
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