The Patriarchs

Nothing too eventful has been going on around here again, a short dry spell for the blogging! Everyone is back at home from summer trips, school has started, and everyone is adjusting to schedules! I told you before that Jen and I had been taking a Bible Study together this summer, on the Patriarchs. Jen has already started back to school, so she wasn't quite able to finish the class with me. Today was the last class and it was kind of sad! I've met new friends, and visited with new people from another church here in town, and we've done some deep studying together! I had actually done this study before, but I was a week shy of finishing it when mom got sick and I left town. I learned and re-learned a lot. There are things that I know my mom prayed for that she never got to see the answers in her life time. Promises that she believed God for. I have seen some of her prayers answered since her death. To be honest, I have fussed at God because I don't understand why He didn't let HER see those answers. But, through the study this week, I found the answer. We live in such an "immediate" world. Everything is RIGHT now, quick. That is what WE expect of God. However, ancient Hebrews would have considered the possibility of a promise fulfilled in his descendant a great honor because it would have shown God's CONTINUED blessing over the extended line. I know that even though mom left this world without seeing some answers, she also left here EXPECTING God to still be at work. Her faith was not shaken one bit. No, she BELIEVED, and now I am getting to see her prayers answered, as well as my own children. Pretty amazing. I'm going to copy the next few sentences right from our book. "Let's be open to the possibility, however, that if the years slip away and we find ourselves on our deathbed without seeing a promise fulfilled, it may have been intended for our physical or spiritual descendants. God's promises to us are bigger than us and reach far beyond us. Their ultimate purpose is glory. HIS. He is always faithful, and He will never make a promise He won't keep. His promises to "you" could be for you personally, your family, or your line. If precious promises aren't fulfilled in the fruitful years of our lifetimes, let's believe God and welcome His promises from a distance. What kind of faith could be more pleasing to Him?" I love knowing that I am seeing the fruit of my mother's prayers. I pray that my own children will be able to see the same. And THEIR children. Wow, that's pretty good stuff!