Do you believe your blessings can be delayed? If you’re supposed to get a house at 30 but your bank account is empty because you’re a shopaholic, do you think you will be able to have that house, your house at 30?
I’m not speaking in relation to the prosperity gospel, No, not even talking about the “name it, claim it” culture that’s trending today. So, let’s go directly to God’s word, Amen!
We are going to the Old Testament as we look at God’s chosen people, the Israelites. The Jews were rescued by God through the leadership of Moses but they wandered in the desert for years before they got to the Promise land.
Many of the people who left Egypt that fateful day had died before reaching the promised land, their bones buried in the sand and an unfulfilled hope lost forever but carried on with their children.
Did you know that the journey they took lasted 40 long years?
Yes, ok.
How about that it is approximately a mere 35 day walk from Egypt to the Promise Land? Yeah, let it sink in. Now, remember my question at the top? Do you believe your blessings can be delayed?
The promised land flowing with milk and honey was right within their grasp. It was so close but yet so far that they walked around in circles for over 40 years.
Why did God do this?
The Israelites had many lessons to learn before God allowed them to get there. Many of them had to die in the desert because sin can keep you from God’s blessings.
If you’re distancing yourself from God then you are getting comfortable with sin. That test that you keep failing is delaying your blessings.
Israel turned their back on God and forgot all the good that he did on their behalf many, many times over. When you harbor sin in your life, God doesn’t regard your prayers. He awaits your repentant prayer first and then hears your requests after and extends fellowship.
God hates sin. A perfect example of just how much he hates sin is when Jesus was crucified. When the whole world’s sin was placed upon Jesus, God turned his back on his son.
He didn’t want to witness such a sight. My former pastor would always quote from Dr. Martin Luther King every time he spoke of God, the father turning away from God, the son.
When Dr. Martin Luther King studied this text one night before he went to sleep, he woke with the thought, “God forsaken by God, who can understand it?
Who indeed can understand that concept? Can you? Just imagine the chaos and tragedy that would befall mankind if God would stop protecting us for 1 minute?
Jesus suffered such anguish one of his seven sayings while he was nailed to the cross was, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Sin separates us from God but thanks be to the Almighty, God made a way that we can reconcile once and for all for as often as we need to.
Growth is necessary to receive blessings.
What a cold, dark day that was, when God turned his back on Jesus but the story doesn’t stop there— Jesus is alive now and forevermore. Being stuck in a cycle of sin doesn’t help because you aren’t growing.
Growth is a part of life. If you plant a tree root and it doesn’t grow after you’ve given it all it needs to thrive, then something is wrong.
Just like, if my daughter stops growing or never grew from the day she was born, there is a serious problem. One that I would have to rectify asap.
1 Peter lets us know that growth is necessary for the believer. When you are first born again you drink milk but by the ages of 5,6 or 7 its time to eat solid food and meat. Staying a babe is not practical, and it certainly isn’t what God wants for you.
Keep growing, keep progressing and share what you know with others.
If you’re not growing in your Christian faith then there are definitely some blessings that will be delayed.
When Peter denied Jesus in front of everyone, he wasn’t the same person who preached on the day of Pentecost when over 3000 people heard the gospel in their own language (without an interpreter, hallelujah!) and got saved. Peter went through his testing and grew.
Dr. Tony Evans said it best, “God’s delays are often tied to our development.”
Is he trying to get your attention? Are there some tests that you have been failing for some time now? It’s time to grow and develop. When God looks down at you, I hope there is a smile on his face. Be like David, repent and become a woman after God’s own heart.
The next time that God sends you a test it’s time for you to pass it so you can receive all that he has in store for you.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your numerous blessings on my life; they are so many and I don’t deserve any. I’m so grateful that you haven’t given me those that I am not ready to receive. I want to be obedient to your will and receive everything and task you have for me at your perfect time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
