"…he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir."
Here I am—Abram's wife Sarai—hidden away and laughing in unbelief! Is God really promising me a child?—a fruitful life?—to be the mother of many nations? He knows that I am old and barren—no life left in me or Abram, yet He gives even me a glorious promise. But let's start at the beginning. Many years ago, God promised Abram an heir, a child of promise, who would be the new beginning of a holy nation glorifying God. Our child would be a crucial part of God's perfect Plan, which runs through all generations, from eternity past to eternity future. That Plan had a great gap—a very costly gap—that came with the fall of man through Adam. Ever since, God has given His All, bearing the awesome price to bring His Plan back into place. What an accomplishment it would be to return everything to His prescribed order, bringing glory to Him alone! And He would use the fruit of our lives—even Abram's and mine—to accomplish His goal. How precious His promise was to us! Abram and I gave everything to see it fulfilled. We left home, family, friends—we even laid down our marriage relationship. But all we did by our natural human intelligence and work was to add to the grief and cost to God and his people by refusing to surrender self and obey Him in faith and patience. We had tried to do without Him what only He could do through us. The result was the birth of a whole nation of enemies rather than the beginning of many holy nations of promise! It was only as we allowed the Lord to bring us to the end of ourselves, through utter self-despair, that we could become usable by God in our generation to further His Plan for humanity. Mercifully, He renewed His promise of godly seed, and fruitfulness by His own working and power. Though I first laughed in unbelief, now as I surrender self and submit to His perfect Will, I laugh in joy and praise as I finally see His awesome Plan clearly. Now my life in Him and His Life in me bears fruit, producing Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah!
Now for our generation—2008! My pastor husband, Roy, and I have also been given precious promises of a godly seed. And truly, as we have given our lives—home, family, friends, even dollars and human sense—He keeps His promise. He began with our children, and as they are that precious promise given back to Him—as they surrendered their lives to Jesus—He worked His miracle of new birth. Then, as young ones, heeding God's call, they, too, took their appointed place in the family ministry, faithfully and obediently enduring the cost and bringing forth fruit unto God and His people for eternity. Now, He comes again with the promise to build beyond our family the holy nation of His Church. May we respond to His precious promise in faith and patience as we await its fulfillment. We pray for strength to resist the temptation to resort to human manipulation to fulfill His Plan in our generation. May we rest in His perfect will, and work in the power of the Holy Spirit to see our small church flourish to maturity and growth, and that Jesus Christ may be revealed. It's His Plan—His will—His power and ability. And it's for His glory!
~ Cindy Warren
