Is God’s promise a destination
A physical manifestation
Of spiritual realities?
God did not call us to popularity
God’s calling is not to make us wealthy
If in the course fame and riches find us
They make us no more successful
Than those who such, did not attain.
No address bears ‘The Promised Land’
No sign spells success or failure
But as we seek that country
Whose Builder and Maker is the King
He steers us to the place of peace
And by our faith, leads into His rest.
It is scary the way success is defined these days. If you don’t have what they have, if you can’t do what they do, if you can’t measure up to their standard, you are tagged a failure while those who do, enjoy the reverence of being considered successful. We should not be deceived, God’s promise is not measured monetarily. It is not a level or location you attain to and relax. It is a walk of faith, such that though we don’t have all the details and guarantees, we are willing to leave the certainties of today, step out with God into the unknown, going from one day to the other, growing from grace to grace, trusting Him all the way, until we reach that for which He reached us. God’s promises abound in His Word, to us and all around us. So also opportunities teem to trust in His faithfulness and reach beyond mocking realities or reject the invisible for the tangible. The choice is left to us to labor to enter by faith and not be swayed by what we see and think and feel.
God’s promises are given to all but not everybody enters. Why? These promises don’t show up bearing, “Promised Land.” Instead, God’s promises appear as challenges that must be conquered, giants that must be defeated, habits that must be overcome, hearts that must be won over, and all by faith. Unbelief and haste are the enemy’s greatest tool for distracting, discouraging, and disqualifying us from entering to possess our possessions. How can you receive, when you don’t believe that God is in control, behind every scene that life presents, and working it together for good no matter how unpleasant it appears? Faith puts us in position to receive the needful in order to conquer and claim blessings, disguised as dilemmas. Those who persist in unbelief misuse opportunities and forfeit their inheritance.
Faith takes our eyes off defying circumstances which we must contend with in order to enter God’s rest. It keeps our eyes focused on God who gives the grace we need to enter and possess. Faith keeps whispering contrary to the roars of doubt, fear, anxiety, and impatience: that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, that nothing is impossible for our faith to overcome. Faith looks beyond mountains and valleys and calls those things that be not until they are established according to our Father’s nature and promises.
God’s promises are not shadow that life dangles and withdraws when we stretch forth our hands – like the closer you come, the farther they drift, no. They are not scarce commodities that we have to queue forever to obtain. They are not far-away destination or high-up objectives that we may or may not attain, depending on our limited capabilities. They are not in heaven or in hell such that we need angels or demons to go get them for us.
God’s promises are here with us, calling us into that place where those who hearken have their faith exercised to pass the outer courts of believing into the sanctuary of experiencing the peace that passes all understanding through life’s circumstances. God leads into His promises. In order to enter, we must be willing and obedient followers. As we follow Him who knows the way, who is the way, He leads us into the place where no matter what is done or said, we are at home in His Presence, and the rest within speaks authority to the transient storms blowing around us, “Peace be still!” May your faith usher you into the sanctuary where your help resides and awaits, to make itself richly available, amen.
Glory!