Did you hear the one…

Did you ever hear the one about the Promised Land?

God said to Abraham, here it is. It’s all yours.

And then what?

Nothing.

Abraham lived to be old.

His son Isaac lived to be old. And his grandson, Jacob.

Then his great-grandson, Joseph–he lived to be old, too.

400 years pass by. Still not much to show.

Then Moses comes along. He gathers all the people (a lot by now). They escape Egypt only to wander around for a few decades eating bread on the ground. And not in the promised land.

Then, finally, Abraham’s children begin settling in. After half a millennium.

What happened?

And why did God make it seem like it was a done deal when he originally told Abraham?

Because, in many ways…it was.

This was the case then, and it’s the case now.

The in-between stuff is never a challenge to God. Instead, it’s a chance for us.

Paul, talking about Abraham, said, “That is why it depends on faith.” Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:16, 21). And in the process, he grew to be more like God.

That’s what God’s giving us.