THE PROMISE

The promise of a coming Messiah was Israel's constant hope. Countless prophesies by prophets of old - like this familiar one of Isaiah's - kept hope alive and fanned their expectation.

Here in the Christmas season, we celebrate the birth of this Promised One. But. I wonder. Have you ever truly considered the length of time God's people anticipated His coming? Hoping. Continually hoping. Waiting. Ever waiting.

History reminds us that during the extended duration of their vigil, FIVE empires exercised dominion over them: Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome. They were detained, dismantled, discouraged and disappointed. Yet, many of God's people still clung to the hope of the day the Promised One would appear to deliver His descendants. I have to ask myself: if I had lived in that era, would I have kept my personal hope alive? I don't know.

Yet - I do know something about waiting for a promise from God.

For 42 of my 47 years of marriage I mostly went to church alone. My husband was a believer but he had been raised to believe that church attendance was not important and he had little to no personal desire for it. He was always very supportive of my church involvement (which was considerable) and encouraged the children's and my participation. I was (and AM) married to a good man. I was (and AM) richly blessed.

Still, there were times during those first forty-some years of our marriage that I felt SO lonely when I would go to church. Within me there was a tremendous longing to share the one thing that mattered most to me - my faith - with the one person who mattered most - my husband. It was a missing element in our marriage.

There were times I prayed about this with great fervor. During one of those seasons, I was praying through Psalm 34. When I read verse 3: "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together," God spoke so clearly to me that it might as well have been an audible voice. The date was October 25, 1993. I wrote it my Bible. Here's what my Father said: Quit petitioning Me for this and begin praising Me. It's a done deal.

It's a done deal?? Alone in my study, I laughed out loud. Does Holy God use the phrase "a done deal"?? That was one of Roy's most common expressions at the time. I couldn't even count the number of times I'd heard him say "Don't worry about it. It's a done deal!" That God would speak those very words to my spirit absolutely blew me away.

I had a PROMISE - straight from the Word. Straight from the voice of the Father. My husband would go to church with me. We would praise and exalt the name of the Lord TOGETHER. I cannot even describe how excited I was. How CERTAIN in my expectation! I had not a doubt in my mind that by the next Sunday Roy would be in church with me. Not a single solitary doubt!

But it didn't happen the next Sunday. Nor the next. Nor the next. And the weeks moved into months and it still didn't happen. And the months moved into years and it still didn't happen. And I'm just going to be honest here ... there were times that it was HARD to praise God for a promise that wasn't taking place. There were times that, just like the Israelites, my faith was dismantled, discouraged and disappointed.

But, oh my sweet sisters, when I least expected it - the second Sunday in January 2007 - I was walking out the door to go to church when my husband appeared from the bedroom dressed in his Sunday best and asked, "Mind if I go with you?" In case you haven't done the math, that was FOURTEEN years after God's Psalm 34:3 promise!

For almost five years now the love of my life has sat next to me in church and I've listened to his beautiful voice magnify and exalt the Lord of our life. Now, God has moved him to the choir loft and I'm sitting alone again - but only for part of the service - but this time I'm not lonely. Instead, I'm beaming at my sweet husband up in that choir fulfilling a place of service with the talents God has given him.

Girls - every time you see a nativity scene this Christmas, let it remind you that God keeps His promises!! I'll bet there were times in Israel's waiting for Messiah that they longed for the promise to be fulfilled right THEN. There were plenty of those times in my years of waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled. We live in an instant gratification society. We want what we want - NOW. We must learn the lesson of God's patient and panoramic plan. For, when God acts, that moment can redirect the rivers of our history. What you and I may have wanted yesterday, God may desire today or tomorrow. His plans and purposes are sovereign.

Perhaps you are still waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. It is time for us to reclaim our heritage and our hope. It is time to renew our prayers and practices regarding the great goals in our lives. It is time for us to look beyond the circumstances of our "here and now" and trust God's faithfulness to fulfill what He has promised.

He has made everything beautiful in its time .... Ecclesiastes 3:11