I long for the promise, I crave its fulfilment
Yet not a step I’ll take except You go with me
Not a thing I’ll I touch except You give it to me.
Life is oft not as it seems; fiends appear as friends
Darkness in shades of light, giants and thieves lurk
But You see farther. You know better.
Your intentions are pure and perfect: I’ll trust You.
I will enter with You or else, I go not at all.

Many of us are longing for better days but it only appears times are getting darker and gloomier. Conditions are growing worse. More and more people are losing the light, sucked into hopelessness that is threatening to overwhelm this generation. For every believer, there are specific promises that God has made us, through which He rekindles dying embers of hope within wearying souls. Each time we hit and miss, that hope compels us to get up and not give up. That hope assures us that no matter how off the chart our current experiences are, everything will fall in line, in due time. It whispers above the enemy’s threats of certain failure, that in the end, the lines will fall in pleasant places for us.

Scripture exhorts that after we have done the will of God, we have need of patience, until we take full possession of the promise (Heb. 10:36.) It is easier to patiently persevere through rough winding terrains of life than it is to wait when the promise is right before us. That’s the time we feel we just can’t wait! We itch to reach out and grab it! After all it is ours. We’ve paid the price. Yet, that is when patience is needed the most, so that we are taught how to take and not grab, how to enjoy and not endure through it. No matter how faithfully we have travelled through deserts and valleys, we need to be aware of how to manage this transition time because it has undeniable consequences on how we live in the Promised Land.

In that desert where our hearts long for our feet to cross over, into the Promised Land and find rest, O God, keep us alive in Your love. At the threshold of the promise, help us rebuff the enemy’s lures and escape his traps. Keep us awake and alert to his devices and distractions. May we not sacrifice the living for the looming. May we not jump ahead of You. May we not grab what You are about to give. Help us cherish our daily walk with You, and the training so we can make the most of what is sure to come. Restrain us from whatever will deter us from enjoying Your goodness in the land of the living. Do whatever You have to do to help us because without Your help, we can’t make it. Keep us awake, aware, alive and alert in Your faithful love and may Your will be done in our lives. Amen.

Glory!