After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,
and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars,
if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:1-6
Abraham contended with the Lord to realize his own faith.
He had to hear from God.
He did hear from God.
Abraham let God know his doubts
and how his human mind could not conceive what the Lord had promised
and God came back with a promise and that is when Abraham took hold of it.
I had a promise many years ago. In fact, many decades ago.
I was at a very low point in my life.
I prayed that God would let me die. I prayed this every day. Every single day.
I would be disappointed when I woke up and asked God why He didn’t let me die in my sleep.
I could not seem to get past the feelings of hopelessness and despair.
Then, one night I had a dream.
There was one person the Lord showed me who was in Hell’s flames.
In the dream, I reached in my hand and pulled him from the fiery pit.
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Jude 1:23
This person was 4 or 5 years old at the time of this dream.
I believed God. I still believe God.
When I awoke from the dream,
I said to the Lord, Okay, for him I will stay and adjust my attitude.
Life went on.
I did not know when it would happen, that he would turn to the Lord.
The years came and went and we remained close throughout.
Then, there was a breach.
He became interested in the Occult and things of darkness.
I warned him and at that point, He wanted nothing more to do with me.
The years went on. I prayed sometimes,
but my selfish human nature did not always consider his need for prayer,
so I let it slip and lived my life.
Then, I became burdened for him again.
I realized I had been reluctant to continue in prayer when he had chosen this path.
I still believed God, but I was not participating as much as I could have been in prayer.
I know Jesus remained close to him and had His hand on his life.
Today, he is still not wanting to talk to me.
He is going about his life, but I can see God is separating him from darkness, little by little.
I still believe God will snatch him from the flames and that he belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Galatians 3:6-9
God teaches us as we are able.
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way
shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. James 5:20
If God promises you something, don’t let go.
Find a way to take hold of that promise.
God will surely be faithful. We are the ones who let go sometimes.
God will bring about what He has promised.
You may not see it, even as Abraham did not see the promise fulfilled,
but yet he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.
The spiritual world is forever. There are no easy answers to life’s dilemmas.
Jesus is working and He will work all things together for good in this situation
as He does in each and every situation in my life.
I believe, help Thou my unbelief.
Scriptural References:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears,
Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mark 9:23=24