God is in covenant with you. He has spoken a promise over your life, one he will not break. He is in agreement with how he will care for you, how he will bless you, and the future he has waiting for you. The crazy thing is, you may not be in agreement with him – you may be fighting him. You may not even believe him. But that does not change God’s covenant with you.

We really don’t talk about covenants much today. Now, we sign contracts for our agreements. And we often break our contracts and cancel our agreements. Yeah, I thought I wanted to stay here for a full year, but now I don’t, so I’m breaking this lease. I thought I wanted to be married to you for the rest of my life, but nahhhh, I’m not feeling it now, let’s get divorced. Contracts are now something we scroll through to simply get to the bottom of the page, click agree, and submit a digital signature. They don’t even mean anything to us anymore.

But a covenant – a covenant was sealed with blood. A covenant is irreversible and forever. And God has a covenant concerning YOU. He made that covenant with Abram, and it was a promise for all his descendants. 4,000 years later, you and I are his descendants. We are among the counted stars God promised him so long ago. My sister, YOU ARE INCLUDED. You were included then and you are included now.

A blood covenant was a seal of a promise, and while the scene of a covenant would look quite gruesome to us today, in the day of Abram, it was quite familiar. Animals would be killed, and their carcasses would be split in half. The two halves would then be laid out on the ground with a narrow path between them. So, essentially, you would have the left side of cow on one side of the path, and the right side of the cow on the other side. The same with a goat. Each animal split in half, divided with a narrow path between them. Then, the parties going into agreement with one another would walk that path together, often holding hands. They would recite the terms of their agreement together as they passed through the slain and divided animals. Each would make a commitment that if they broke the promise to the other, they themselves would be torn apart like these sacrificed animals. Blood would be on them and their families if they broke their promise.

A covenant was never made with the thought of breaking it in the future if something changed. A covenant was never a decision made in the moment like a midnight wedding in front of Elvis in Las Vegas. A covenant wasn’t a “let’s give this a whirl and see if we like it” kind of thing. A covenant was an all-in commitment with agreed upon non-negotiable terms.

If you and I walked hand and hand through a path of split animal carcasses, making a covenant to go into business together – You and I were in business together forever. No loop holes, no expiration, no addendums. Done deal.

Hmmmm, imagine if weddings today looked like true covenants. Animal carcass is a very different color choice than most are going for these days. And that level of commitment is hard to find too, huh?

So, remember how God makes a promise to Abram that his descendants will be as many as there are stars in the sky, and while Abram and his wife are now old and can’t have children, he dared to BELIEVE GOD, and because of his faith he was counted as righteous. That was an awesome moment of faith. Wow.

Then, God makes another promise to Abram. (And that’s really how God works. If you can believe him for one promise, then he’ll make more promises to you. If you trust God with one thing, he will trust you with more.) So God sees that Abram will trust him with something as impossible as children at this point in his life, so God starts making more promises. Genesis 15:7, “Then the Lord told him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur to give you this land as your possession.'”

This land was the sought after land of Canaan. Abram had no way of obtaining this land. No way of fighting for it, buying it, or claiming it. So he couldn’t understand HOW God was going to give it to him. And that’s when Abram says, “Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” Remember, it’s okay to have questions. It’s okay to believe and have unbelief at the same time. God can handle our questions. He can handle our fears. He can handle our tendency to over-think. And he will handle it if we give it to him! Just give him those doubts.

That’s what Abram did. He didn’t pretend to understand what he couldn’t understand. He didn’t try to manufacture a feeling that wasn’t there. He didn’t hide behind fake faith. No, he honestly said, “Lord, how can I be sure?!!!!” And now, you have to know what God does next!

This is how God responds to the questions of our heart. This is how God responds when we bring him our fears and doubts. He makes a COVENANT.

What we’re going to read next has probably never made sense to you before, but now that you understand more about the scene of a blood covenant, you’ll understand, just as Abram did, what God was asking for.

Genesis 15: 9-10, the Lord told him, “Bring me a 3 year old heifer, a 3 year old female goat, a 3 year old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side …” This is the scene of a covenant.

Abram knew God was calling him into covenant. They were about to make an agreement together. A commitment that could not be broken. And again, remember, a covenant was an agreement between both parties as they walked through the narrow path between the carcasses together signifying whoever broke the covenant would be torn apart like these sacrificed animals. Blood would be on them and their family with a broken covenant.

Now, here’s the amazing part … God walked the path alone. The covenant was his to make. The terms were his to assume. Abram didn’t make the covenant with God, God made the covenant alone for Abram and his descendants.

Verse 17, “After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day.”

This is a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus as the ultimate blood covenant for us. A promise God alone would fulfill to save us, redeem us, and give us a hope and a future far beyond anything we could ever hope, dream or imagine.

You see, that covenant is for YOU. The promises are over YOUR life. Here’s how we know – Galatians 3:29, “Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”

What are those promises and what do they mean to you today?

God’s covenant promises to Abraham were to give him descendants as many as the stars, a promised land, and to be a blessing to all nations. Now, through Jesus, we are heirs of this promise. We have a promised land awaiting us. We blessed to be a blessing. We are set apart, chosen, called, anointed and appointed.

We are in covenant with God. He assumes all responsibility because he did it for us. He walked the path for us. The blood was his. Our job is to simply live like we know we are forever covered in his promises.

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Do you have something you’re believing God for, but you’re still battling for it to make sense in your mind? Some days it’s easy to believe what could be, and other days you wake up to current reality so hard that you can barely get out of bed. What do you do on those days? On the days when what you believe God CAN do and what is happening right now seem to be a world apart. On days when the gap between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through is a massive divide. What do you do on those days?

You get real with God. Yes, just be honest. God wants to fill that gap, so don’t hide it from him in shame, invite him into it! Lord, I believe you can do anything, but right now nothing seems to be happening, so come fill this gap. I hear you, Lord – but I don’t see you, Lord. I need more help from you here.

That’s the kind of relationship God is calling you into. A real one where you’re honest and you hold nothing back from him.

There was once a father who’s son suffered from convulsions and seizures. The father brought his son to Jesus for healing and says, “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” Can’t you hear the desperation in the father’s plea. Have mercy. Please, if you can help us, I’m begging for your help. And Jesus says this in reply, “What do you mean, ‘If I can?’ Anything is possible if a person believes.”

Mark 9:24, “The father instantly cried out, ‘I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!'”

There it is. That’s what you do on those days. On the days when you’re believe what could be, but your reality nearly cripples you. On the days when you believe what God CAN do but it’s a world apart from what is happening right now. On the days when there’s a massive divide between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through. On those days, you cry out to Jesus with all your belief and all your doubt, all your knowing and all your questioning, all your surrender and all your desire to still control it – “Jesus, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

What? You think God would be disappointed if you admitted you struggle with part of you not believing he can get it right? You think God would be hurt by your questioning? Girl, God knows exactly how you really feel. He knows precisely how you’re struggling to fit his promises and your reality in the same box. He knows about that gap between what you’re believing for and what you’re going through, and all he wants is for you to stop hiding it from him and invite him into it.

Lord, here’s the gap I’m struggling with – the things I don’t understand – the things I can’t see even being possible at this point – and I’m inviting you into this gap where my unbelief resides. Here’s my unbelief, help me to overcome it. I believe you, God, but I’m still struggling.

You don’t have to hide in shame over your unbelief, you have to ask God to help you in it. You don’t have to be ashamed of the desires of your heart that are a far cry from current reality, you just have to invite God into the gap between the two.

The father cries out to Jesus in honesty, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” And do you know what happens next? Jesus commands the spirit to come out of the boy, takes the him by the hand and helped him stand. As the father was struggling with holding both his belief and unbelief, Jesus healed his son.

Jesus doesn’t need your belief to be perfect and without wavering. What he’s asking of you is to acknowledge the part of you that still struggles to believe and just invite him into it. Help me here, Jesus, where I still don’t get it. I believe you can get it right, but I’m still holding part of this back. Help me to surrender it all to you.

In our study of Genesis, we see the 75 year old Abram who was married to his barren wife Sarai, and they couldn’t have children. All Abram wanted was a family. But the reality was, it was impossible. What’s the point in continuing to hope for something that is totally impossible? And that’s when God takes him outside and says, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

WOW! Amazing. In that moment, Abram believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Then when God told Abram what was next, Abram went from a place of believing to a place of doubting. He was back in the gap of reality not aligning with God’s promise, so he questioned. And that’s what we’re supposed to do.

Questioning is okay – but it must be correctly placed. Questioning doesn’t stay in your head. Questioning doesn’t stay in your heart. Questioning doesn’t fill your conversations or delay your steps. Questioning is to be brought to God. God, I believe you, but help me with my unbelief!!!!! God, I hear your promises … but HOW?!!!!! That’s the space for God to fill, so invite him into it. God, I have questions, I have doubts, I’m struggling to believe, come help me here! I’m not pulling away from you in this gap, I’m asking you to fill this gap.

Genesis 15:8, Abram, the man who was counted as righteous because of his faith says to God, “O Sovereign Lord, HOW CAN I BE SURE?”

And this is pleasing to the Lord! Why? Because this is how honest feelings are brought to a powerful God in faith. It takes faith to say, God, I know you can, I know you hold all the power, I know you’re in every detail, but I’m still struggling with it. It takes tremendous faith to say, God, I hear you but I don’t see it and I need more of you here.

If today is one of those days when you believe what could be, but your reality is nearly crippling, you ask Jesus to help you with your unbelief. If today is one of those days where you believe what God can do, but it’s a world apart from what’s happening right now, you invite Jesus into that space and cry out to him with all your belief and all your doubt, with all your knowing and all your questioning, all your surrender and all your desire to still control it, and you say, “Lord, how can I be sure? Jesus, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!

This is God’s space. Let him fill it.

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What do God’s rewards look like? They look like impossible things being made possible. They look like things you could have never even dreamed up in your own mind. God’s rewards are bigger, better and sweeter than what you even asked for. They are exceedingly great.

And God rewards the ones who have messed things up. He rewards the ones who have failed along the way. The ones who thought their plans were better than God’s instructions, so they did their own thing their own way. God doesn’t cancel his rewards for the less than perfect, he leads them right to his rewards with grace and mercy. He covers us, forgives us, guides us, teaches us, and redeems us. Again and again, he rewards us in ways we could never be good enough to earn.

Yesterday as I was wrapping Christmas gifts for my family, I realized God’s rewards in my life. Is my life perfect – no. There are some messy uncertainties, hurts and unhealed wounds. There are some struggling relationships and painful distances. Each of those gifts will be shipped in boxes today because no one is coming home … and I’m okay with that. We will be alone for Christmas, but fully aware of God’s exceedingly great rewards.

I don’t get to share everything with you here because some things are private. But sometimes things need to be shared so God’s glory is made known. In the past year, we’ve walked a path with both of our daughters that seemed hopeless. Just this last Christmas, not only did they not come home but they wouldn’t even call. I didn’t tell you that. Every morning I was charged with the task of showing up here with a new devotional to share in pure delight as our family was broken. God has taught me how to walk through hard times and still be filled with joy. He’s taught me how to walk through the dark valley while talking about beautiful promised mountaintops. And let me tell you, HE’S NEVER FAILED ME ONCE.

Last year at this time, one daughter’s marriage had fallen apart and she was walking away from her husband and her 2 year old son. That’s the truth. It didn’t look like it could EVER be okay again. The other daughter was going her own way in darkness, leaving a trail of disaster behind her and blaming us for most of it. She was caught in a world of chaos, bouncing from couch to couch and struggling to buy food. But God did not fail us. He didn’t walk away and leave us to try and fix it. In fact, we had nothing to do with fixing it. We prayed – God worked. We’re still praying – and he’s still working.

But let me tell you how radically different our family looks this year. In one year, the daughter who was leaving her husband and 2 year old son is with her little family, they’re in Church and they’re seeking God. She sent me 2 texts this week. 1 text was of the 3 of them in matching Christmas pajamas all piled up on the couch together. That’s a miracle! Their divorce is cancelled! The 2nd text was telling me how they caught their little boy talking to himself and then realized he was praying. He was saying, “Thank you for Poppy and Franny.” (I’m Franny!). She told me they’ve been praying together as a family, and he’s started repeating them. Y’all that’s an exceedingly great reward! I didn’t do that – GOD DID THAT!

My other daughter now has a baby girl of her own, and she’s the most perfect thing you’ve ever seen. Their life is not easy, but they have their little family together and they’re trying to give their baby girl the best they can. Yesterday she sent me a video of my smiling grandbaby as she absolutely lights up over her mama’s voice. It’s a miracle. I didn’t even know this was possible 1 year ago!

And here I am, wrapping presents to ship to the homes of my children which God is working in. Here I am walking in the middle of undeniable miracles and exceedingly great rewards. Last year I never imagined this could be our family because it all looked so impossible. That’s what God does – you need to know that.

You need to know that, because maybe this Christmas is dark and hopeless for you. Maybe you’re walking through the unimaginable and you don’t see how it can possibly get better. My friend, God can work in this, he can work through this, and he can work with this. Invite him in. Believe him.

That’s the key – don’t just believe IN God, but truly BELIEVE GOD. Believe he is unlimited in power. Believe he sees every detail of your life and cares. Believe he knows the desires of your heart and is responding. Believe nothing is impossible for him. Read his promises and believe they are for you, they are for your family, they are for your future. BELIEVE GOD.

This week, in our study of the book of Genesis, we’ve seen how Abram failed to trust God fully and through his own ideas and ways he made a bit of a mess. But, God was patient as Abram learned the lesson of trust. Now that Abram is trusting God completely, God is trusting Abram with more and he promises to him a reward that will be exceedingly great.

Now, you have to know Abram’s honest reply. You have to know what Abram says to God next. This is HONEST PRAYER – and this is what God is asking for.

Abram says in Genesis 15:2, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, a servant in my household will inherit all my wealth.”

This is Abram’s heart being poured out. All he wanted was a son, but he and his wife Sarai had been unable to have children. Now Abram is 75 years old and it seems hopeless and too late. He’s disappointed.

Is it okay to tell God that you’re disappointed? Is it okay to tell God you can’t believe this is how life has worked out for you? Absolutely! That’s real relationship and that’s what God is looking for. YOU CAN BE REAL WITH GOD. You can tell him the truth. The truth of how you’re really feeling. The truth of what you really want. The truth of what really hurts.

And now, God reveals the exceedingly great reward he has in mind for Abram. He says to this 75 year old man with a barren wife and no children, (verse 5), “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Impossible. Unbelievable. And totally God’s plan!

What Abram did next is what you and I most need to know today. Verse 6, “Abram believed the Lord.”

When it didn’t make sense, Abram believed the Lord. When it seemed too late, Abram believed the Lord. When he couldn’t see it, when he couldn’t fix it, when he couldn’t even imagine it, Abram believed the Lord.

Will you believe the Lord?

There’s a big difference between believing IN God and actually believing God. Satan and his demons believe in God. They know he is real. That doesn’t save them and that doesn’t change them. This isn’t about believing in God – this is about believing God. Believing his promises. Believing his power. Believing his sovereignty over every situation in your life. Believing in his involvement in the details. Believing in his personal care for you. Believing he has a plan for your life, and that plan is eternally good. Believing he will work in everything and use it for his good.

Do you BELIEVE GOD? Do you believe he is for you and not against you? Do you believe he is making a way for you? Do you believe he has forgiven you and made you new? Do you believe God?

I will carry big boxes filled with wrapped Christmas presents to the post office today, and I will thank God for the miracles he has done for my family. Impossible things against all odds have happened for us. He gets all the glory. One year ago, it all seemed too far gone. But now, we see what God has done.

If he’s done it for me, he can do it for you. He did it for me when I was wrong, when I was self-righteous, when I was angry, when I was hurt. He did it for me when it was too late, too far gone, and beyond repair.

He did it for Abram when he had a track record of not always trusting God fully. He did it for Abram when every ounce of hope was gone. He took Abram outside and had him look at the stars. He told him to try and count the stars. As many stars as there were, that’s how many descendants he would have. This meant Abram would become a father. His barren wife would have a baby. And from that baby would come more children than he could ever count.

42 generations later, through God’s miraculous work in Abram’s life, a descendant would come and he would be our Jesus! When God told Abram to count the stars that would come from him, he had no idea one of those stars would be the bright morning star that is Jesus!

This is what God can do! He did it for Abram. He’s done it for me. He can do it for you.

You don’t have to clean yourself up for it. You don’t have to figure it all out first. You don’t have to have a plan. You simply have to believe God. It’s more than believing IN God. Believing in God is natural when you see his creation. Now he’s calling you to something so much deeper – something that will radically change your life. BELIEVE HIM. Believe he can do it for you. Believe his promises over your life. Believe his power at work for you.

Lord, I believe you!

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Whatever problem you are facing right now, whatever the threat may be on your future, know this – GOD WILL PROTECT YOU. He will come through for you. God will meet your needs and you will be taken care of.

You likely don’t feel worthy of that because maybe you’re not 100% innocent in the problem you’re facing. Oh come on, can we be real for a minute? This might not be all your fault, but you weren’t perfect and you have some level of responsibility here. You put your trust in the wrong people. You allowed your priorities to get out of line. You willfully overlooked the red flags because you just wanted it so bad. You stopped showing up as your best self. Maybe you don’t deserve this problem, but you’re part of it now. BUT GOD WILL STILL PROTECT YOU IN THIS. God will still come through for you. God will still meet your needs here and you will still be taken care of, even when you’ve been a little (or a lot) wrong too.

Yesterday we read about Abram creating unnecessary problems on his journey because he didn’t trust God to be enough. But God didn’t cancel his promises over Abram because of it. God was still there. God was still working. God’s good plans for Abram still stood, even through the problems he had part in creating.

Now, after Abram’s self-created problem, God speaks to Abram in a vision. Genesis 15:1, “Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.'”

Did you know God has a reward for you? A reward you don’t deserve, so you can’t earn it. A reward of sacred gifts and favor, goodness and mercy. A reward of Heaven’s open storehouse. A reward of breakthroughs and blessings in miraculous proportions. And it has nothing to do with what you do, it has to do with what has been done for you. This is about God. God WANTS to reward you, and his reward will not be stopped. God blesses because he is good – not because you are good.

How can God do that? Won’t his blessings be wasted if he gives to us even when we aren’t deserving? Oh honey, you’re viewing this from a limited perspective. God is unlimited. Nothing is wasted in his hands. Here’s what he knows – his blessings will always draw you back to him. When God shows up and does a miracle in your life, you can never forget it. When God gives you what you could never be good enough to deserve, you are forever grateful to him.

Something happened in Abram when he saw God’s faithfulness even after his self-created mess caused by his lack of trust – he never had to doubt God again. When you know God is faithful, you become more faithful to him.

Has God shown himself faithful to you? Doesn’t that make you want to be faithful to him? Has God proven you can trust him with those little things and those big things alike? Doesn’t that make you want to trust him fully with EVERY thing?

God had told Abram to go to a land he would show him, and he had specifically told him NOT to take any of his father’s family with him. But, Abram took his nephew Lot. It made sense to him to bring along help. It made sense to him to have strong arms for the long and uncertain journey. Abram had trusted what made sense to him more than he trusted what God had told him. And this created problems.

Abram’s nephew Lot (the one God told him to leave at home) was captured in war by enemy armies, so Abram had to go rescue him. Once Lot was rescued, a King wanted to reward Abram with great riches. These were things Abram didn’t need for his journey, but it must have been tempting. I mean for real, girl, if someone is offering you a designer purse and those famous red bottom shoes by Christian Louboutin, you want it, right? You don’t need it, but wow, it would be nice. But what if God had been teaching you the lesson of TAKE NOTHING WITH YOU. TRUST ME ENOUGH TO REFUSE EVERYTHING ELSE.

Abram is offered a great reward by the King, but Abram was fresh off some self-created problems to learn a hard lesson, so he refused the reward. He says to the King in Genesis 14:22, “I solely swear to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you.” That’s a man who has learned the lesson. That’s a man who is no longer tempted to take along what God told him he doesn’t need.

And THAT IS A MAN WHO GOD HIMSELF REWARDED. This is when God says, “Your reward will be great.” In fact the KJV says your “exceedingly great reward.” Not just great, but EXCEEDINGLY GREAT. Now that’s exciting!

When you start trusting God more than you trust what you can earn, what you can collect, what you can buy, or what you can create, God starts offering HIS EXCEEDINGLY GREAT reward. I’ve always said you can’t outgive God – Now I’m learning you can’t out-trust God. If you trust God, God will trust you with even more! If you trust God with what you’re going through right now, God will trust you to step into breakthroughs and blessings you haven’t even dared to dream of. If you trust God with an open hand here when you have little, God will trust you with an overflow in your hand that simply won’t stop.

When you don’t trust God, you create unnecessary problems. But when you do trust God, God trusts you with more.

Jesus taught his disciples a lesson of faithfulness and he said in Luke 16: 10-12, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. (Meaning if God knows he can trust you with a little, then God knows he can trust you with more.) But (here’s the warning), if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”

Abram had shown that he would be dishonest. He had shown that he would trust in his own plans and his own people more than he trusted God. Then he learned the lesson. His problems served a greater purpose of changing his heart and increasing his trust in God. Now, when he is offered a reward by a King, he easily refuses. He has learned how to be faithful. And because he was faithful in refusing the King’s reward, God promises to reward him himself with an exceedingly great reward.

I love that God doesn’t give up on us when we get it wrong. He gives us another chance.

I’ve been given another chance after getting it really wrong for a really long time. I want to take the lesson and be faithful. I want to trust God fully and keep my hands open to him instead of clinching my fists trying to control it myself. That’s how God can trust me with more. I’m just a girl learning the lessons of faith and trust.

Isn’t that the journey you’re on too? You’re just a girl learning the lessons of faith and trust. God has given you another opportunity to get it right. He’s brought you through those self-created problems. He’s faithfully made a way for you. He’s blessed you in ways you don’t deserve. And he’s asking if he can trust you with what is next.

If you trust God fully with this, he will trust you with even more! You can’t believe it until you see it for yourself, but that’s how God works.

Abram messed up, but he learned the lesson and trusted God. God personally protected him and gave him an “exceedingly great reward.” Not just a good reward. Not just enough to get by on. But a reward that would blow Abram’s mind. A reward of the thing Abram’s heart most desired. A family of his own. And what was coming next would be more than he could have ever dreamed of. More than he could ever count. EXCEEDINGLY GREAT REWARD. (That’s coming tomorrow!)

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How good do you have to be to live in the promises of God? Where’s the cut off line for that?

Do you wonder if you could ever be good enough for God to really love you? Do you fight to get yourself in that good positioning, then struggle to stay there? And when you’re not there, when you know you’re falling short, do you fear God’s promises over your life being withdrawn?

Well, listen closely sister, this one is for you – God’s promises depend on GOD, not on you. God alone is good enough. God alone fulfills his promises. Jesus has made you forever good enough and you don’t have the power to undo that.

God’s promises for you are true whether you believe them or not. His promises are at work all around you in every detail, even when you fail to remember them. You can’t cancel God’s promises, but you can create unnecessary problems when you forget them.

In our study of Genesis, we started with Adam and Eve, then 9 generations later we have Noah. 9 generations after Noah, we have Abraham. Abraham’s birth name was Abram, so don’t be confused when you read scripture and you see both names being used. In Genesis 12, Abram received a mission and a promise from God. First the mission in verse 1, “Leave your native country, your relatives, your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” Now, the promise in verse 2 & 3, “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

Imagine knowing with absolute certainty that God is blessing your mission. Imagine knowing you will most definitely succeed. Imagine knowing God himself has promised to take care of you and clear out anyone that might come against you. That was the promise Abram received.

But Abram was not perfect. He was chosen, but not perfect. He was blessed but still flawed. He didn’t always get it right.

God specifically tells Abram not to take any of his father’s family on this journey, but he takes his nephew Lot. Why would he do that? Maybe he thought he would need help for the journey. You see, sometimes we think we need help and we start grabbing people to take with us, forgetting that God alone is all the help we need. This nephew of Abram’s causes him many troubles on the journey, and that’s what happens when we don’t trust God enough to follow him completely.

Does God remove his blessing when we fail him? No. But we create unnecessary problems for ourselves.

What unnecessary problems are you living in right now because you didn’t trust God to be enough? What stress here is self-created? What overwhelm was formed with your own choices, not God’s hand? Do you see it? Yeah, you did that. You can’t go back and undo it, but you know what you can do – You can learn the lesson and move forward. God’s blessings are still on you and you can trust him fully.

One thing I’m learning about God is how incredibly patient he is with us. Wow, I’ve been so slow to learn the lessons. It’s taken me YEARS of unnecessary problems to see God is all I ever needed. It’s my lack of trust in him that creates my worry. It’s my lack of full obedience to him that builds my overwhelm. And yet, he blesses me. Still he guides me. Still his good plans for me stand.

He is patient with me. He was patient with Abram. And oh honey, he is patient with YOU!

Abram’s journey of faith with God takes him to Egypt where he faced the power of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt. And this is where fear struck Abram. He knew his wife Sarai was beautiful and she would be noticed by the Egyptians. And he feared the Egyptians would be jealous of him and kill him so they could have his beautiful wife. So, Abram concocts a plan to protect himself from harm. And here’s his plan: “Sarai, tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”

And sure enough, the plan works … for a little while. That’s the thing about our plans. They work … temporarily. God’s plans work … eternally. Our plans eventually fail and then we’re left with a mess. God’s plans are without fail and are guaranteed success. Abram is working in his own plan instead of God’s plan now, and temporarily it worked.

Pharaoh loved the beauty of Sarai and took her into his palace and married her. To impress Abram, believing this was his sister, Pharaoh sent him many gifts.

But this was NOT God’s plan – this was Abram’s plan. Abram’s plan of self-protection soon turned into a problem. Verse 17-19, “God sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. ‘What have you done to me?’ he demanded. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘she is my sister, and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!”

And now there is conflict with Egypt. This conflict would grow and continue. And it was all unnecessary. Why did it happen? Because Abram followed his own plan in fear instead of remembering God’s promise in faith.

God has promised to bless Abram. He had promised to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. You see, God had the Egyptians already taken care of. If they tried to harm Abram and Sarai, God would have stepped in. God’s promise was over them all along, but Abram inserted his own plan out of fear.

And that’s what we do. We forget the promises of God when we’re facing uncertainty, and we do stupid things. Anything you are trusting more than God is a problem. What is it you are trusting in more than God? Who are you trusting in more than God? Is it your husband, your job, your wealth, your looks, your talents? That will be a problem for you.

Abram trusted his lie to protect him and his wife more than he trusted God to protect him and his wife. And this caused a mess. It didn’t cancel God’s promise, but it created an unnecessary problem.

Abram trusted the help of an additional hand in his nephew Lot more than he trusted God to be his helping hand without taking family along. And this caused a mess. It didn’t cancel God’s promise, but it created an unnecessary problem.

Looking back, I realize just how many unnecessary problems I’ve accumulated. Each problem a result of trusting my plan, my performance and my perseverance more than God’s promise. My story goes a lot like this:
Pamela trusted her ability to show up, turn it on, and make it happen through sheer willpower, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems.
Pamela trusted the applause, the success, the money, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems.
Pamela trusted her goals, her appearance, her circle of friends, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems.

God’s not finished with me. He’s lovingly teaching me every time I stumble and showing me how faithful he is to his promises for me. His faithfulness changes me.

God wasn’t finished with Abram. He didn’t give up on him just because he lied, just because he made a mess, just because he failed. No, God reminded Abram of his promise and set him free time and time again.

God isn’t finished with YOU. He hasn’t given up on you just because you’ve made a bit of a mess here. He’s simply reminding you of his promise over you. His promise of GOOD PLANS for your future. His promise to never leave you and never give up on you. His promise of strength, guidance, peace, forgiveness, and an eternity in paradise with him.

God’s promises never depended on you. They depend on him. Luke 1:37 tells us, “God’s word will never fail.” His promises are forever. You can’t wander your way out of them. His promises are still covering you and the more you trust them, the less problems you will self-create.

God’s promises depend on GOD, not on you. God alone is good enough. God alone fulfills his promises. Jesus has made you forever good enough and you don’t have the power to undo that.

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Your identity is a definition of who you are to you. It’s how you see yourself. It’s the value you place on your own life. Identity.

The world wants to twist your identity so you never see yourself for the truth of who God says you are. God does not see you as a failure because he never saw you as a performer. (Hmmmm, let that soak in for a second.) God is neither impressed by your performance or distraught over your missteps. He is sovereign. He is mighty. He is great all alone, just by himself, and he simply invites YOU into HIS goodness.

Let me tell you who you are, my sister, so you start seeing yourself a little differently. You are a funnel. You are a vessel through which God pours his blessings. A funnel’s purpose is to allow a flow from a larger thing to a smaller thing. If I’m pouring grease from a big skillet into a little bottle, I need a funnel. You are the funnel.

God pours out his blessings, but he uses a funnel for his flow. His people are his funnel. And the funnel is constantly being filled, even as it gives, because the source never runs out. When you are the funnel receiving from God, you can fill a million different bottles while never running empty yourself. But the moment you stop the flow through you and try to keep it all for yourself, you create a mess. Yip, you know that.

Now think about this. As the funnel, the moment you start trying to give solely from yourself, you run dry. The moment you start trying to create the blessings on your own, you fail. The funnel does nothing but allow the flow through them from the source.

The funnel can’t get puffed up with pride, thinking they’re great and every little bottle receiving from them should be grateful. No, what the receiving bottle does with what has flowed through the funnel is of no concern. The funnel is to allow the flow, not measure the response. You’re the funnel. And funnel, it’s really not about you. Just let God’s blessings flow through you.

Here’s a statement for your identity. It’s one I’ve clung to for the past 16 years. I’m blessed by the blessor to be a blessing.

God is a blessor. All blessings come from him. Ephesians 3:1 reminds us that it is God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Every good thing you have came through the hands of God. It’s all his and he poured it out on you – and I bet he used a funnel to get it to you! He used someone to bless you. Someone spoke into your life. Someone gave you a chance. Someone opened the door for you. Someone made space for you. Someone showed you love. They were your funnel! They were blessed by God to be a blessing to you.

And once you’ve received a blessing from God, you become the funnel. Now, you let the blessings flow through you onto the next person who needs the goodness of God. The divine giver never stops giving as long as the funnel keeps the flow open.

We’ve been studying Genesis and we saw how the whole earth had been infected by Satan and his demons and become evil – all but 1. That one was Noah, and Noah was different. So God started over with just Noah and his family on the ark. Now, 10 generations after Noah comes Abraham. Abraham is know as the “father of faith”. We first learn how to be faithful through the life of Abraham.

Abraham was an ordinary man who had the identity of a funnel. He knew everything he was given and everything he could do was for the purposes of God to flow through him to others. Let me tell you, it takes FAITH to receive a blessing from God and not hold on to it. It takes faith to allow the best stuff to just go right through you. God tells Abraham in Genesis 12:2, “I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”

Blessed by the blessor to be a blessing.

God is saying – Abraham, your fame will not be for you. This won’t be about you. This will be about my power working through you. Your blessings will not be yours to hold on to. You’ll be asked to surrender your blessings over and over again. Sacrifice them, release them, trust me with them. And as long as you do, my blessings will never run out.

But God is not only saying this to Abraham, but my sister, he is saying it to YOU. He will bless you beyond measure, but it can’t become about you. It can’t be about your followers or your numbers. It can’t be about the purse you carry or the car you drive. It can’t be about your comforts and your cares. As a funnel of God’s blessings, you have to have a continual openness that never holds back. A faith that says, “God, if you give it to me, it’s not mine to keep – it’s yours to pass through me onto others.”

Abraham was blessed to be a blessing.

Your blessings are for one purpose – for you to become a blessing. But have you gotten that a little twisted?

Abraham’s birth name was Abram. Abram means exalted father. But there was one problem, Abram was married to Sarai and Sarai was barren. She was unable to get pregnant, so they had no children. But remember, God has promised to bless him so that he himself would become a blessing. An exalted father with no children – it was a painful reminder of a problem they couldn’t fix.

But, God would bless them, and that blessing would become something so powerful that our lives would be forever changed, even now over 100 generations later. What blessing would Abraham and his wife be given, and what would that blessing become?

In the way only God can, the barren woman unable to have children would miraculously become pregnant in her old age, and Abraham would have his son. And that son would have sons, who would have sons. And eventually, at just the right time, would come Jesus. Jesus, the savior of the world, came through a blessing to a barren couple who couldn’t have children. Abraham’s blessing became the blessing that saved you and I.

Abraham was a funnel. God declared he would bless him to be a blessing. And because God could trust him to keep his hands open and allow the blessings to flow through him instead of holding onto them for himself, God chose his family to become the linage of Jesus.

Blessed by the blessor to be a blessing. And how many times do we see the blessor use a problem and a struggle to become his biggest blessing? That’s the way he works. You know why? Because if it were easy, you might think you did it. If it were never a struggle, then you might think it just happened. No, it didn’t just happen, God ordained it. And no, you didn’t do it – God did it.

Where is your biggest problem and struggle? Will you stay open to God with this? Will you trust him to get this right? If God could get it right for an old couple who had tried to have a baby for 60 years, then I think he can get your problem right in his timing. And that blessing will be a blessing to others. It’s not yours to squeeze tight and never let go. It’s not yours to hide away and protect forever. It’s poured out to you to flow through you.

Have you ever heard of the Dead Sea? Nothing grows in the Dead Sea, but it’s not becauase there’s no goodness in it. Actually, it’s because there’s so much goodness in the Dead Sea that it’s become toxic. It has an inlet but no outlet. Everything just collects and settles in the Dead Sea making it so full of minerals that nothing can survive in it. If it had an outlet to allow flow, life would grow.

We become like the Dead Sea when we cling to our blessings and try to collect more. Life can’t grow like that, my friend. It’s why we see the mega wealthy become mega miserable. More isn’t the answer – FLOW is the answer.

You are blessed by the blessor to be a blessing – now let it flow!

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There is a divine design over your life. The divine designer behind it is God. He wanted you, so he designed you. He used generations before you to perfectly align to bring the world YOU. Now, here you are in your lifetime. My friend, what are you doing with this one opportunity at life?

It’s so wild to think about how incredibly short our lifetime really is in relation to creation. We are truly here but a moment, then our life is over and the world continues on without our existence here. But while we are here, our existence is for a purpose. We’re not here by chance, we’re here by CHOICE, and that choice was God’s. You continue to be here by choice. Every day of your life is a choice for God to continue to sustain you with his breath.

His desire is that you not waste what you have been given. Live this one life you have been given in a way that it matters.

Think about this – someone’s future flows from you. Someone’s life depends on your life. You’re being used to impact eternity. It’s easy to dismiss ourselves as too ordinary for that kind of impact, but I assure you, God uses ordinary people for extraordinary purposes.

Isn’t it true for you? You’re here today because of someone else. God used someone in the past for your today. Someone grew you in their womb. Someone fed you when you couldn’t feed yourself. Someone may have spoken a word that forever changed you. Someone may have shown you Jesus for the first time and changed your eternity. Weren’t they ordinary people? Your mom was quite ordinary, maybe even quite flawed. That teacher was quite ordinary. Maybe it was even an ordinary stranger, but what they did made a difference in your life.

Now, you get to do that for someone else. You get to be that mom, or that teacher, or that friend, or that stranger. Do something that matters!

Noah and his wife had 3 sons and their wives on the ark. After the flood, they were the only humans alive. And from them, God would repopulate the Earth. Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. And from one of them came … YOU.

Without one of them, we don’t have you. Your exact DNA required either Shem, Ham or Japheth – the sons of Noah. And remember this, Noah was just an ordinary man but he lived DIFFERENT. He wasn’t said to be the best looking, the strongest or the smartest, he was just said to be different and God liked what he saw in Noah. And THAT is who you come from! You come from someone who was willing to be different. Someone who was radically obedient to God. Someone God used to change everything. That is your lineage! That’s where you come from.

One life led to your life, by design.

When Noah and his family left the ark, God did something very specific. Genesis 9:1, “Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.'” Guess what – that involved YOU. God knew you would come from 1 of Noah’s 3 sons. Your life would depend on them. And their life was blessed by God personally.

My sister, you flow from blessings. You were designed by fruitfulness. Countless miraculous things have had to happen over all these generations just to ensure your life is here today. And here you are, not understanding the full impact of your lifetime. You’re failing to understand that someone’s future flows from you. Someone’s life now depends on your life. God wants to use YOU to impact eternity.

I remember the very first person I ever heard pray for me. He was an ordinary man named Bill. He was the father of my middle school best friend Sarah. While at Sarah’s house, she and I got into one of those 13 year old girl arguments. Who knows what we were upset about – but looking back I’m sure I was at fault – I was far wilder and brattier than she was. Sarah’s dad sat us both down in the family room and talked to us. I don’t remember what he said, but I remember he said it out of love. He didn’t condemn either of us. He didn’t shame us. He lovingly talked to us. Then, he prayed for us.

Right there, in that living room, I heard the very first person pray out loud for me. He spoke my name to God. And quite honestly, it planted a seed in me that never stopped growing. I’ve never told him thank you. He’s probably never thought of me again since then and doesn’t even remember that day. But that man, Bill Henry, made a forever difference in my life. He was different and he did something different for me.

One life that impacted my life. Now it’s my turn – who’s life will I impact?

This is how God works. He uses one life to create the next life. One life to impact the next life. One life to save the next life. And my friend, if you don’t show up in the fullness of who you were created to be and walk out the life you have been given, there will be more than one life that suffers because of it. Your life will suffer if you don’t live it fully – yes – but others will too. Someone else needs your life.

Noah and his 3 sons were blessed by God and told to be fruitful and multiply – YOU ARE THAT FRUIT! Now, that blessing is on you. Be fruitful.

To be fruitful means to produce good results. It means to be productive. It means to grow fruit abundantly. That means make a difference, feed someone, love someone, pray for someone, build something good, continue something good, invest in something good. Use this one life you have been given to live in a way that matters.

Fruitfulness looks like Bill, a simple man who worked in a factory in the small town of Ava, MO, who prayed for a 13 year old girl who was in an argument with his daughter and it forever impacted her life. That life was me.

Fruitfulness looks like YOU – you doing something, anything, for someone else with the love of Jesus. Your one life can lead to another life, all by the design of God. Lean into that. Lord, make me fruitful! I want to do good things. I want to be productive. I want to grow fruit in abundance. I really want to be different for you.

Someone’s future flows from you. Someone’s life depends on your life. You’re being used to impact eternity. You’re not too ordinary for that kind of impact. God uses ordinary people for extraordinary purposes. Extraordinary fruit grows on very ordinary looking trees.

And one death lead to your salvation, by design. Jesus gave his life so that beyond this life you’re currently living, you could have so much more. You could have an eternity in paradise in the presence of God. You can sit at that table. Do you know the table is set and there’s a seat just for you?

I’ll be at that table. Bill will be at that table. Jesus will be at that table. And we all want YOU at that table. Jesus made a seat at that table possible for you.

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As good as you are, or as flawed as you are, you are 100% dependent on God’s faithfulness. Without his faithfulness, you don’t wake up today. Without his faithfulness, the sun doesn’t come up. Without his faithfulness, things are never made right. You are surrounded by constant proof of God’s faithfulness and your every breath depends on it. HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU.

God has made promises over you. He is in covenant with you, and God does not break his covenants. You may fail, but he does not. You may doubt, but God is always 100% certain. He’s certain he loves you, he’s certain he chooses you, he’s certain he wants to bless you.

Imagine that for a moment – the creator of the entire universe WANTS TO BLESS YOU. He wants to make something happen just for you. With one word from him, it can happen. Doors can open, circumstances can change, the impossible can suddenly be made possible. He never stops wanting to bless you.

After Noah comes out of the ark with his family and the animals, they start life over again in a world that has been renewed by the flood. And God creates a sign in the sky of his promise over all life on Earth. What was the sign of God’s promise? What was the signature of his covenant?

IT’S THE RAINBOW.

Genesis 9: 11-16:
God says to Noah, “Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will flood waters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. (That means me and you because we are part of the generations to come from Noah! We are the recipients of this covenant with God). I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again with the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.”

Did you know, a rainbow is actually not the arch shape we see? It’s actually a full circle – we only see half of the circle. Okay, why hasn’t someone ever told me that before? I was flying over a tropical island one time and looked out of my airplane window to see the full circle of a rainbow over the entire island and I flipped out a little thinking Jesus was surely coming back in that moment. It’s a full circle. Complete. Whole.

God’s promise is full circle. It isn’t just a half promise, it’s a complete promise. Remember that when you see a rainbow.

Why are we anything less that absolutely impressed by the miracle of a rainbow? Why do we look at those perfect colors circling our sky and dismiss it as the result of something ordinary happening. GOD MADE THAT HAPPEN. It didn’t have to happen just because that’s what light does through the rain, no it happens because God designed it to happen. He sends us signs of his promises.

But, notice God says here, “I will remember my covenant with you and all living creatures.” Then he says “When I, God, see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember.” God remembers you and he remembers his promises. He is 100% faithful. He will follow through.

Sometimes we’re blessed with this magnificent reminder in the sky. And if it’s anything less than magnificent for you, you’ve allowed life to numb you. Be the one who stops everything to stand in awe of God. Be the one who makes a BIG DEAL out of the wonders of God. Girl, be IMPRESSED BY GOD! Be blown away by his power and majesty. Be amazed by his works. That rainbow in the sky didn’t just happen because of some scientific truth, it happened because God ordained it to happen and he created it. Now you get to behold it for a moment.

But ultimately, God created the rainbow as HIS REMINDER. He says I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH YOU. God says, “When I SEE the rainbow, I will remember.” God remembers you. He remembers his promises. And not just when it rains and the sun hits it just right – he remembers you and his promises over you eternally, non-stop, all the time. Sitting on his throne in Heaven, he is reminded, and here’s how – his throne is circled by a rainbow. Literally.

The apostle John was gifted with a little visit to Heaven to see things we cannot see. This is John, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. He was a fisherman who Jesus invited to leave his nets and come follow him, so he did, and his whole world changed. He was there by the cross when Jesus was crucified. He was referred to as “the one Jesus loved”. John is the author of the book of Revelation, and he wrote that book because God revealed to him the things of Heaven and what is to come. And there in Heaven, John sees God’s throne.

Y’all, I want to assure you, there will come a time in your existence when you see that throne. As sure as the moment came for you to be born, the moment came for you to take your first step, the moment came for you to turn 16, the moment will come for you to stand before that throne. It will happen. That moment is waiting for you. And here’s what you will see –

Revelation 4: 2-3, “There before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it… A rainbow encircled the throne.”

Remember, a rainbow is a perfect circle, a complete and whole eternal reminder of God’s promise to us, and God chose to sit right in the middle of that promise on his throne. There’s never a moment of a single day that he’s not reminded of you and his promise to you. He put a rainbow around his throne!

But, let me tell you, his covenant is more than just a promise to never wipe out this earth with a flood. It’s a promise of BLESSINGS. We read of this promise in Isaiah 54: 9-10. The Lord says, “Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken.”

That’s a rainbow, my friends. God’s covenant of blessings. A perfect circle that will not be broken. The rainbow around his throne.

He will have mercy on you even when you don’t deserve it. He will never give you what you deserve, he will give you Jesus, and he will save you. There is an eternal paradise in his presence waiting for you on the other side of this life. His rainbow reminds us of his promises. And he literally SITS IN THOSE PROMISES. Continually encircled by a rainbow as a reminder of his promises of faithfulness concerning you.

God signed a covenant over you. It’s a binding promise that offers forgiveness for your sins and eternal life. The blood of Jesus seals that covenant and makes it forever. You are forgiven. You are covered. His blessings will never be broken. God’s faithful love for you will remain forever.

May you never, ever see a rainbow again and be unimpressed. May you forever remember the covenant over your life that changes absolutely everything for you. What a gift it is to get to occasionally see the reminder that encircles God’s throne night and day. He wants that reminder. He sits in that promise and he will not be moved from it. A promise of BLESSING is over you.

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God is your remedy. He knows how to solve your problem. He knows precisely when your problem will end. He has a plan, his plan is good, and he will perfectly fulfill that good plan.

My sister, God has not forgotten about you. He hasn’t overlooked you. He hasn’t dismissed you. He hasn’t turned a deaf ear or a blind eye toward you. You are seen. You are heard. You are loved. You are remembered.

Genesis 8:1, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat.” God remembered Noah. God even remembered the animals.

They had been in the ark while it rained nonstop. They had been floating while absolutely everything else was wiped out in the flood. Imagine being on the boat you’ve been building for 120 years and watching every living creature outside of that boat not survive. Wouldn’t you be glad you were crazy enough to build the boat?!!! Imagine watching the trees be covered with water, the hills be covered with water, and eventually every single mountain peek on earth being covered with water.

That’s where Noah was. For 150 days, exactly 5 months, Noah had been on that floating boat with his family and all those animals. It must have been a long 150 days. It must have felt like forever. He must have asked if they would ever make it out. Would this flood ever come to an end.

And exactly at that point is when we’re told BUT GOD REMEMBERED NOAH. God had not forgotten about him. He hadn’t left him floating in a problem without a rescue plan. There was always a plan.

Right now, you may feel like you’re floating in a problem without a rescue plan. Oh, but God has a plan. That plan is good, and that good plan will be perfectly fulfilled. This will not continue forever. An end to your problem is already in the works.

After 150 days of floating with no land in sight, the ark came to rest on the mountain of Ararat (ehh-rr-at). The Bible is actually very specific about it’s location, and let me tell you what has recently happened. The ark is believed to have been found – and guess where. On top of the mountain of Ararat (ehh-rr-at)! It is a dormant volcano, sitting at 17,000 feet tall, making it still the highest point in Turkey.

There are new findings released just this year that scientists believe to have found petrified wood in the shape of a boat, measuring exactly 450 feet long and 75 feet wide, on the top of Mount Ararat. Nothing grows at this elevation. Those peaks are covered in snow. And yet, here is this wood and the remains of tar. How absolutely amazing is that?

For Noah, the rain stopped after 40 days, but the floating didn’t stop for 5 months. Now, after 5 long months, they sat lodged on top of the tallest peak in Turkey, still surrounded by water – and they waited.

Waiting isn’t easy, but sometimes God has us wait. Why? Because he’s doing something. There’s a purpose in the wait. Sometimes he’s doing something to prepare the path for you, and sometimes he’s doing something to prepare you for the path. But he’s always doing something in the wait.

My friend, you can trust the wait. Psalm 27:14, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” David wrote that in one of the hardest seasons of his life. He was hiding from King Saul who had turned on him and was hunting him down to kill him. David was on the run, hiding in caves, and living in the wilderness. He was without a home, without shelter, without help. And he is somehow writing, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”

Notice how his writing is repeated. He’s telling himself. Wait patiently, David. You have to be brave here. You have to be courageous. YES, wait patiently for the Lord. He was saying this because every ounce of him wanted to give up. Every emotion within him wanted to freak out. Anxiety wanted to overtake his mind. Panic wanted to set in. Hopelessness was knocking at his door. So he wrote his prayers and he trained his mind in the waiting. And God would provide for David while he ended the threat of his enemy, but it wouldn’t happen quickly. The wait was about 13 years for David. And David came out of that wait as a man primed to be used by God.

You’re waiting, but you’re not forgotten by God. You’re being primed, prepared, shaped, molded, strengthened into the fullness of who God knows you can be. Just like David, you need to remind yourself to wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, girl, wait patiently for the Lord. And just like Noah, you need to not break down the doors of your boat and try to run out too soon.

Noah is in the boat, surrounded by a pair of every species of animal, now stuck on top of a mountain. It’s been 5 months, and still he waits. He’s waiting for the waters to recede. He’s waiting for the earth to come back to life. He’s waiting for God to tell him it’s go time.

After ONE YEAR on the boat, 5 months floating, then 7 more months stuck, God says in Genesis 8:15, “Leave the boat, all of you.”

The problem had ended and life had begun again. And all this time, God was in complete control. He had a plan, the plan was good, and that good plan would be fulfilled perfectly. God knew exactly how to bring an end to this big problem. Remember, the flood was not the problem – the problem was Satan and his demons had infected the entire population of humans and the result was a total and complete evil on the earth. Noah was the only one who was different. God brought the flood to start over with just Noah and his family. But, the solution took time.

120 years of building the boat, then 1 full year on the boat. And now, finally, a new life starting over in God’s blessing and provision.

God knows exactly what he is doing. He can be trusted. His eye has never left you and his powerful hand is moving on behalf of you. He sees the problem and he has a planned solution for the problem. You may be floating in a problem right now, but there’s a rescue plan in place for you.

Wait patiently Heather. Wait patiently Vicki. Wait patiently Krista. Wait patiently Samantha. Wait patiently Maria. Wait patiently Kerry. And YOU, yes you, you’re being called by name here. Wait patiently, daughter of God. Be brave and courageous. Don’t you give up here. Don’t you let the darkness overwhelm you. God remembers you and he has a good plan. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

His rescue plan is in motion and right on time. You won’t float in this problem forever. God remembers you.

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God is asking you to follow him in a way that will require your faith. You’re not going to understand it. You’re not going to be in control of it. Can your mind make peace with the unknown? Can your hands remain open in full surrender? And girl, will your feet move forward to destination UNCERTAIN.

Faith would not be required if you had a complete plan with confidence in the next 37 steps. Faith would be unnecessary if your future were certain and the steps there were clear. But that is NOT the life you were created for. That is not the future you’re being called to. Faith will be required here, my friend. Why? Because Hebrews 11:6 says, “It is impossible to please God without faith.”

So, these uncertainties you face and the struggles with control you feel are your path to pleasing God. This is your path to faith. You are called to a place where you can’t see everything, you don’t understand it all, and it’s beyond your control … all for the purpose of growing your faith.

Look around, you are in the faith growing field. The uncertainties and struggles are God’s divine recipe for your faith to grow. You can’t do this on your own. You don’t have all the answers. You can’t see how it’s going to work. But you have a God who is calling your next step. Will you take it in faith?

Next steps are quite practical. The next step is always right in front of you. It’s quite literally doing what you can, where you are, with what you have … and (this is big) … not allowing what you can’t do, what you don’t know and what you don’t have, to keep you stuck.

Our last devotional together was episode #2006, “Will You Be Different”. Studying the story of Noah, we see how Noah was different and God was pleased. Humans had become evil in thought and action, but Noah was faithful to God. Noah had a close relationship with God and sought to walk closely with him. God tasks Noah with a job so big that it would take him 120 years to complete – build the ark. This ark would house the only living breathing things through the flood which God would use to start over again.

And this is what God says to Noah in Genesis 6: 17-19, “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat – you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal – a male and female – into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood.”

Imagine receiving this kind of impossible mission. God, how do you expect me to do this? But, Noah lets God continue. He doesn’t interrupt him with his questions. He doesn’t insert his own emotions. He listens. And here’s what God says next – verse 20, “Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.”

God gives Noah a task he can do – he can build a boat. Right where he is, with what he has, he can start building. But, what Noah couldn’t possibly do is gather a male and female of every single air breathing animal. How would he ever do that? They didn’t even have tractors and trailers back then. There were no semi trucks to make a route to gather up these animals. This was beyond anything Noah could do. But God didn’t expect him to do the impossible. What God expected was for Noah to get busy doing what he could do in building, and trust God to do the impossible work.

Girls, I can’t stop thinking about that. Who else has been prompted by the Holy Spirit to do something, but you’ve talked yourself out of it because step 5 is so far out of reach that it overwhelms you. So, you never moved beyond step 1. Maybe you started step 1, but you gave up. You got discouraged. You got scared. And instead of finishing that step in faith, you never completed what you could do.

You could have built that boat, and if you would have built that boat, God would have brought the animals. IT WOULD HAVE COME TO YOU. You wouldn’t even have to go out and chase it, God would have brought it to you. But you stopped building, honey. And when you stop doing what you can do, using what you have where you are, then God withholds those impossible steps from coming right to you.

You don’t have to chase what God has for you. It will come to you. But you do have to do the work to prepare for it.

For my single ladies, you never have to chase the man God has for you. God will bring him to you. It will literally happen … but there’s work for you to do right where you are first. And that work is ON YOU. Your faith, your space, your priorities. If you will put in the work where you are, God will align the best things for you next.

For my girls who know you have a calling on your life to start or build something … start it, build it! Yes, for real. Start small. Start simple. Start for free. Be bad at it long enough to get good at it. You don’t have to have your business plan perfected with the budget to support level 10 of this – honey, you’re at level 1. What if level 10 requires a divine movement of God and he has it planned, but you won’t see it until you get there. Faith is required to work here on level 1, knowing you could never pull off level 10 on your own. That work is pleasing to God!

Noah had no way of gathering a pair of every species of animal. How in the world would he do that? If he would have been worried about chasing lions and tigers and bears, he wouldn’t have been building a boat. His job was to build the boat – God would bring the animals.

Your job is to do what you can, where you are with what you have. Your job is to be faithful with little. Your job is to stay in relationship with God as you grow. Your job is to be so absolutely sold out to God that what you’re doing will NEVER work without God doing his part. THAT IS FAITH!

And let me tell you something – when you settle for a little safe life where you can easily predict how 5 years from now will work out because you have a plan and you can control that plan – something crazy happens. YOU FEEL RESTLESS. You feel unfulfilled. Life starts closing in on you and suddenly you feel anxious without understanding where the anxiety is coming from.

What we’ve missed is the root of anxiety is often a gift to us. It’s a warning sign that something isn’t right in our lives. Anxiety can be a God-given emotion to make us feel so uncomfortable in our settled comfort, that it forces us to do something different.

God wants YOU to be different – and he wants you to DO something different. He will allow you to feel the anxiety of a settled, little life so you wake up and seek more. Honey, you were created for more. Settling for less isn’t supposed to feel good. If you don’t feel good, stop and ask God why. Maybe it’s because you’re not doing what you could do, where you are, with what you have, as a step of faith toward something bigger than you.

There’s an old saying that says, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.” It means doing things out of order. And maybe you’ve been focusing on and stressing over something that’s supposed to come AFTER something else. Maybe you’ve missed God’s order in this. God said, “Noah, you build this boat. I’ll bring all the animals.” Order. If Noah would have focused on gathering animals, he would have never built the boat.

Here’s what that could mean for you today:

1. Stop rushing the outcome before the foundation is ready.
We want the result —the success, the relationship, a life change— before laying the foundation that actually makes it possible. Your foundation is a relationship with Jesus. It starts there so you literally MUST start there. Success will build on that foundation. Visible changes will happen after the foundation is set.

2. Stop stressing about the future instead of taking the next right step.
If you let your mind run ahead of you, you’ll become too overwhelmed to take today’s simple action that would actually move you forward. The next step is always right in front of you. Future steps are held in the future, God will reveal them when you get there. You’re not there yet.

When the horse pulls the cart, everything moves smoothly. When the cart is in front, everything gets stuck.

Maybe you’re stuck because you’ve put your cart before the horse. You’re doing things out of order. You’re worried about things that God will do, but he will only do them after your obedient POSSIBLE steps here.

What CAN you do today? Do it. Do it in faith that God will either strengthen you for what is next, or he will supernaturally do the impossible for you. Faith is required to please God here. Faith builds the boat while not worrying about all the animals.

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God has a purpose for you, and it will require you to be different. To be different, you must do something different. Different than what you’ve always done. Different than what everyone else does. Different than what is easy for you. If you’re willing to be different in the new year of life coming to […]