Closing The Gap Between The Prophecy and The Promise Abraham Story pt 10 7:30:23

Dr. Faye discusses the story of Abraham and Sarah and how they tried to fulfill God's promise on their own. They had a child through Sarah's maid, Hagar, but that child was not the promised heir. Eventually, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, the promised child. The lesson is to trust in God's timing and not try to rush or substitute His plans. The gap between the prophecy and the promise is closed through endurance and obedience. Welcome to Faith Alive in 5, the 5-minute gospel. Now here's your host, Dr. Faye. It took 25 years for God to fulfill the promise to Abraham. And I shouldn't say it took 25 years for God to fulfill a promise. Rather, 25 years passed before the closing of the gap for the prophecy and the promise. Abraham received the word that he would be the father of many nations out of one seed, that he would bring forth an heir out of Sarah, whose womb was approaching, was dead by the time she gave birth. At 90 years old, Abraham, 100 years old, fathering a child, a baby. Can you imagine? Some of you get tense when you're thinking 40 and having a baby, or 35 and having a baby. But here, a 100-year-old man and a 90-year-old woman bringing forth a promised seed. You see, God knows how to plant the seed, and he knows how to produce the harvest. Many times, we hear the promise, and we automatically go into self-production, that we're going to do it on our own, much like what Sarah and Abraham both did when Sarah gave Abraham her maid, Hagar, and said, You take her. My womb is too old. So they compromised, and he fathered a child by Hagar, and his name was Ishmael. He was supposed to be the substitute heir. Now, God never told them to go ahead of him, and let's create this substitute baby, and he can take the promised place. How many of you have tried to do something on your own? You knew it wasn't God's will. You knew it wasn't God's timing. Many of you married, and you knew that was not the man for you. That was not the woman for you. Maybe you started a business, and it's not doing so well because it wasn't time for that seed. It wasn't time for that promise. In closing the gap between the prophecy and the promise, remember, timing is the process. Timing is the making of the oil out of the olive. Timing is the making of the wine from the grapes. Timing is the process that you must endure, because if you don't endure, then you delay. You postpone. It doesn't mean necessarily that it's canceled, but you postpone the promise, because all of the promises of God are yes, and so be it. God's word will not return to him void, but it will accomplish that which he pleases and prosper where it's been sent. So, he sent his word to Abram and said, you will be the father of many nations. I'm going to produce an heir. You're going to produce an heir through Sarai. Yes, and you're going to bring that to fruition, for in him, there are going to be nations come out of him. Oh, that just blesses my heart. It's going to be nations that come out of him. But in the meantime, here comes Hagar into the mix, and Ishmael is raised up in Abraham's household. Sarah gets jealous over this child, because now she sees this little Ishmael running around, and it's not her child, because she got ahead of God in trying to rush things along here, because she's looking at the physicality. She's looking at her barren womb. She's looking at her age and trying to tell God that, you know, you don't know what you're talking about. But how many of you know that does not work? God knows what he's talking about. So, Isaac is born. Isaac comes on the scene. Isaac is born. He comes in. Sarah is 90. Abraham is 100 years old, and they bear this child named Isaac, because he's the promised child. Ishmael was not the promised child. Some of you got Ishmael in your household. It's not the promise. You substituted a husband. You said yes to the wrong man. Yeah, you can fix it, though. You said yes to the wrong woman. The wrong woman said yes. You put something in the place of the promise, and God says no substitute. Stay with the plan of God. Listen, I understand no one realized could be the poster child for it, trying to create something, do something, you know, God, and tell God to bless it. Go tell God to bless it, right? And God said, I can't bless what I didn't call. I can't bless what I didn't give birth to through you. God blessed Hagar and Ishmael in a desert place, but the promise, the promise was with Isaac. I'll be back next time for more on closing the gap between the prophecy and the promise. Don't forget, you can donate a tax-deductible donation to Post Office Box 251, Suttgart, Arkansas, 72160. God bless you. Thank you for tuning in to today's broadcast. Dr. Fay would love hearing from you. Contact her today at 870-860-9758 or email coach at drfay.com. And remember, the calling is a gift, but the choice is yours.