August 4th Devotional

Bible Reading - Judges 18, Acts 22, Jeremiah 41, Luke 1

The other night I started to grow discouraged. My mind has a tendency to wander and sometimes over think things. At the beginning of the year God had spoke to me a couple things and I believed them whole heartedly and I was so excited about it. I wrote blogs and journaled about the things God was speaking to me. Everything in me confirmed what God was speaking was going to happen this year.

Now 8 months through my faith is waivering and Im not so sure. I definitely didn’t think God was going to wait until the last minute. This year is passing by so fast and it is almost the last quarter and I haven’t even seen a smidgen of what God was speaking about. Where I was excited and faith now I’m a little anxious and maybe even disappointed. Where I used to be dreaming about it with excitement now I try not to think about it because I’ll begin to get discouraged.

Luke 1 introduces us to Zecheriah and Elizabeth. They were unable to conceive children and they were very old. Just think I am growing weary already in waiting for my dream, I wonder how they felt. This hadn’t been just 8 months or just 8 years for them, but they were long past the age to bear children. It had been a long time and in everyones eyes they weren’t able to bear children anymore. How easy would it be to just stop believing that it would ever happen? I mean they probably prayed for kids when they were first having trouble and continued to pray all throughout their normal childbearing years. Now it’s long past that though and we know that Zecheriah and Elizabeth were still praying about it and believing for it to happen. In this microwave culture were we want it now not later this amazes me. Because of their endurance and steadfastness they continue to believe and God rewards their belief.

The angel Gabriel shows up and announces that they will birth a son and sure enough it happens. My favorite verse in this whole thing happens when Mary, who also just found out she will be giving birth but to the Christ, comes to visit Elizabeth. As Elizabeth rejoices prophetically she says this in verse 45, “You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

I don’t know where you are at today but I know that verse hit me hard. Even though the promises of God and the dreams I have are in my eyes a bit delayed I know they were spoken by God so regardless of my time schedule I should believe. It might now happen this year, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is faithful and he will do what he said in his perfect timing.

Wherever you are in the process of your dream. Keep believing that the Lord would do what he said.

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

Tomorrows Bible Reading

Judges 19, Acts 23, Jeremiah 42, Luke 2