“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40
In this chapter from verse two all the way through verse thirty-eight we are given a large list of Old Testament men and women who followed God and showed their faith in Him. Every one of them had a promise from God. The hard part is that although every one of those people had received a promise, none of them had seen the promised fulfilled in their life time. Each one had lived their lives following God and died still following God.
It was for this reason they were commended for their faith. They continued to believe that God would still fulfill the promise He had made. Many of these even were persecuted and killed for their faith. God did not fulfill the promise because He was holding off for the perfect fulfillment and the right time. God’s fulfillment of the promise to the Old Testament people would also at the same time meet a promise to us today. If God would have fulfilled the initial promise in the Old Testament the way they saw it, we would not have the full promise today. That promise was and still is salvation in Jesus.
What does this tell us for today? Along with being able to have faith for salvation there is more. God has promised to every believer that He would provide for every need. Today each one of us must have faith that God will still fulfill that promise. None of us know when or how God will meet the need, but we must know that He will. Abraham had died waiting for God to fulfill His promise to him, yet God did come through on His promise…just not in the physical lifetime of Abraham. I don’t know everything God has promised you today, but I know that you must be willing to wait for that promise to be fulfilled. God will meet that promise in the best way for us. He has something far better for us than you or I could ever imagine. People often think they know the best way for the promise or need to be met. Only God really knows that. We see just the here and now, God sees the future as well. He really does know what is best.
I pray that today God will help you to have faith in Him; that God will be able to commend you for your faith; that God will give you the patience needed to have faith in Him; that God will bring about His better plan for your life; and that you will allow God to finish the work He has started in you to bring you to perfection some day.
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