Abraham's Descendants Waited for God's Promises
Part 2: God, Will Your Promises Come True Today?
This series is about waiting upon God. Everyone waits for God for one thing or perhaps several things. For what do you wait?
The Bible includes many people who waited. In Part 1 of this series, we looked at Abraham and Sarah and the 21,900 days they waited for the birth of their son. Then one day — after much waiting, hope, and prayer — the fulfillment of God’s promises finally occurred.
Yet, the same challenges Abraham and Sarah faced continued for at least two more generations.
Their son, Isaac, and his bride, Rebekah, also waited. Time ticked by as they probably watched family and friends bring forth children. Isaac “prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren.” Twenty years after marrying, Isaac (age 60) and Rebekah finally welcomed twin sons. They had waited approximately 7,300 days. Even though they had not waited as long as Abraham and Sarah, the days still must have felt interminable.
The third generation in a row also confronted similar issues — between Jacob, Leah, and Rachel. Although the twelve tribes of Israel descended from Jacob, it did not occur within the world’s timeline. Rachel experienced infertility for fourteen years before her first child. After producing sons quickly, Leah endured several years of secondary infertility before again having more.
The Bible mentions at least nine women who persevered through waiting to become moms. Read their stories here. In addition to those already named, they include: Hannah, Elizabeth, Ruth, a Shunammite woman, and Manoah’s wife (Samson’s mom). According to Catholic and Orthodox traditions, Jesus’ grandparents actually had their first child — Mary — in old age.
Another personal story.
Our own family has experienced similar waiting.
I never knew about the many couples listed in the Bible who did not find it so easy to “be fruitful and multiply” — until we experienced the reality. In God’s providence, we got married later than the usual. Waiting on God for my spouse was worth it, for He brought my own Mr. Perfect! After we welcomed our son, we expected more children to follow.
Almost a decade later, that still has not occurred. We continue to pray and wait.
The journey has become a spiritual growth opportunity for our family and our son, especially as kids innocently ask why he has no siblings — a point of deep sadness for him. Now, he prays and waits with us.
While we gently teach our son that God’s providential plan for our family may differ from what we hope, we also cling to tender promises our Heavenly Father has provided. Until we know confidently whether the Lord has closed the door, we will pray and wait.
The world says it is impossible, but “with God, all things are possible.”
In Part 1, a reader commented that “God is patient with us. We must also be patient with Him even when we do not know why.” His words wonderfully remind me of the quote below and that whatever you wait for, we must indeed have a “faithful perseverance in waiting” for our Lord.
Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274)
Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you . . .
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you.
This is the second in a three-part series.
Waiting is an awakening of Gods plan