God is calling us to a higher level of faith in Him. He has bestowed upon us specific promises designed to guide our expectations and mold our destinies as we progress through the year. However, these promises, whether given as a dream, a destiny, or a desire, entail more than just receiving them through knowledge and understanding. To bring those promises to life, we need a heart filled with faith.
We may have received volumes of promises, but only those that we fiercely believe and eagerly anticipate will work for us. Paul is clear that only those words mixed with faith profit the hearer (Hebrews 4:2). The certainty of God’s promises is unquestionable, as He has bound himself with an oath so that those who received His promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. This is the surest anchor for our faith—the knowing that God cannot lie (Hebrew 16:17–18).
Elizabeth understood the place of faith when she said to her much younger cousin, Mary, “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:45). In her earlier discourse with the Angel Gabriel, Mary herself had used these words of faith cast in marble: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
Faith drives promises, and we hold on tightly to what we expect to happen. We should take a mental test to assess how much we believe in God’s promises and whether they still hold true in our lives.
God wants us to reactivate our faith, even in matters of promises that may appear past and long gone. He wants us to dust off the book of promises and dare to believe again. For 25 years, Abraham waited for the arrival of Isaac, the promised seed. Even his occasional doubts, documented in Genesis 15, or his search for an alternative in Hagar, could not overturn God’s oath-bound promise. Sometimes, our faith may grow so weak that we almost lose the ability to believe, but then God brings us back to the path of faith, as He did with Abraham.
In Genesis 12, God first promised Abraham an heir. In Chapter 15:3, Abraham showed signs of weariness arising from delay. The word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” Clearly, this is exactly what God does to us each and every time we slip into moments of doubt and unbelief. He lovingly and firmly brings us back to faith in Him. This is what He is doing for us this season. He is calling our attention to His faithfulness, not to our unbelief. He is asking us to dust up those promises and rise in faith to believe again.
Knowing that God’s promises are unchangeable gives us great confidence, even in the midst of our fears. Even in our state of unbelief, we cannot revoke God’s promise to us. His promises are forever valid. Romans 11:29 drives this home so well, as it says that God doesn’t take back the gifts he has given or disown the people he has chosen. Beloved, there is still hope for those who would activate these promises today through faith. It all starts with being truly thirsty and desirous of its manifestation.
