WHEN I CAN’T MAKE IT HAPPEN
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to be his wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. Genesis 25:20-21
Again, God’s chosen family is visiting the grief of barrenness. The irony of this is profound. God gives Abraham a blessing that he will be the father of many nations. But then he and Sarah can’t conceive; they can’t make anything happen to fulfill the promise. God has to miraculously provide a child, Isaac, and the same blessing will fall to him.
Now, we see that Isaac takes a wife and the same blessing is upon his shoulders. But he and Rebekah can’t make it happen either. They have to cast their burden upon the LORD for Him to miraculously provide again.
When deprivation marks my path, I step up and give everything I have to change my circumstances. I invest all my ingenuity to make something happen. The best that I can produce is an Ishmael because I use someone outside of God’s will to produce a counterfeit. It takes a while for me to learn that the promises of God are good only if God produces them.
You may be living out this ironic plotline. God has called you to do something, go somewhere, and He opened a door. You rearranged your life to follow His leading. Then, all seems dead. Dave Wilkerson calls it ‘the death of a vision.’ Most holy callings visit this temporary place. They experience the frustration of barrenness and can’t make anything happen. God promised, they thought, but now nothing is working.
God is making sure that holy callings stay holy callings. If I am in a seemingly dead place, the wrong thing to do is force something to happen. The best thing to do is cast all my hope on God, declare myself bankrupt, and pray for His miracle to come.
I echo King Solomon’s prayer. ‘I am but a little child and do not know which way to go.’ Infuse my journey with divine sparks. Amen
Journal Question: Are you lacking the very thing you believe God promised you? What has been your response to this emptiness? Have you tried to produce a counterfeit? Have you accused God and backed away from Him? If today’s devotional has birthed a change of perspective, how?
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Tuesday, 27 September 2016.
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