Hidden Promises
Sometimes the promises of God are hidden away, out of view until the time is right.
Jeremiah saw this principle at work when the Lord told him to purchase (redeem) some land in the Promised Land. It was a risky venture; nonsensical. The nation was under attack, the land would likely be overtaken and possessed by the enemy. But Jeremiah made the purchase anyways, according to the word of the Lord.
He took the deed for the land and hid it away; sealed it up in a clay jar. Dark, sealed, hidden. And that is where the deed remained until the opportune time. Talk about casting your bread on the water and waiting for its return!
But Jeremiah was OK with that, for God had made a promise. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.'”
(Jeremiah 32:15)
And the Lord would bring His people out of captivity. He would give them a heart to serve Him and He would be their God and they would be His people.
I’m reminded of the story of Naomi and Ruth.
Naomi moves out of Bethlehem to live with her husband in the land of Moab. There, her two sons married Moabite women. But difficult times fell upon Naomi. She lost her husband and then her two sons died. Tragedy had struck. Naomi returned to her homeland of Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, Ruth.
“Call me Mara,” she told all of her friends, “for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” From her perspective, the hand of God was against her and had bought this calamity upon her. But the providence of God through His loving, sovereign hand had a different perspective. For out of the womb of Ruth, a Moabite woman, would come David, king of Israel, the ancestor of the Christ, Jesus.
Talk about a hidden promise.
Maybe, right now, the promise of God in your life may seem inactive, hidden away. But when God makes a promise, it will come to pass. Nothing is too difficult for Him who by His great power and outstretched arm created everything. The same God who determined to use a prostitute (Rahab) and an enemy of Israel (Ruth the Moabite), can bring His promise to pass in your life - whether you see it or not; for we walk by faith and not by site.
Sometimes the promises of God are hidden away, out of view until the time is right.
Jeremiah saw this principle at work when the Lord told him to purchase (redeem) some land in the Promised Land. It was a risky venture; nonsensical. The nation was under attack, the land would likely be overtaken and possessed by the enemy. But Jeremiah made the purchase anyways, according to the word of the Lord.
He took the deed for the land and hid it away; sealed it up in a clay jar. Dark, sealed, hidden. And that is where the deed remained until the opportune time. Talk about casting your bread on the water and waiting for its return!
But Jeremiah was OK with that, for God had made a promise. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.'”
(Jeremiah 32:15)
And the Lord would bring His people out of captivity. He would give them a heart to serve Him and He would be their God and they would be His people.
I’m reminded of the story of Naomi and Ruth.
Naomi moves out of Bethlehem to live with her husband in the land of Moab. There, her two sons married Moabite women. But difficult times fell upon Naomi. She lost her husband and then her two sons died. Tragedy had struck. Naomi returned to her homeland of Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, Ruth.
“Call me Mara,” she told all of her friends, “for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” From her perspective, the hand of God was against her and had bought this calamity upon her. But the providence of God through His loving, sovereign hand had a different perspective. For out of the womb of Ruth, a Moabite woman, would come David, king of Israel, the ancestor of the Christ, Jesus.
Talk about a hidden promise.
Maybe, right now, the promise of God in your life may seem inactive, hidden away. But when God makes a promise, it will come to pass. Nothing is too difficult for Him who by His great power and outstretched arm created everything. The same God who determined to use a prostitute (Rahab) and an enemy of Israel (Ruth the Moabite), can bring His promise to pass in your life - whether you see it or not; for we walk by faith and not by site.
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