Devotional - Week of the 19th of January 2025 – Long waits lead to great blessings
SUNDAY
Passage: Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
Commentary: This does not make sense does it ? This couple was doing everything by the book, they were blameless and very dedicated to God, the husband was even a priest and yet they did not have children, which was something of great importance in those days. Moreover, they were both well advanced in years, which meant that the prospect of children was pretty much non-existent. So, had God forgotten about them ? No, He was reserving them for a very special blessing and that very special blessing was John the Baptist. Similarly, God has not forgotten about us either, He is the same God today and if we are dedicated to God and walk in His ways, God will come through for us. Lastly let us remember this: the longer the wait … the greater the blessing.
Prayer: Lord, please help us always wait on You and may we never stop waiting on You, for You are faithful and in due course You will also come through for us, thank You.
MONDAY
Passages: Genesis 29: 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.” … 23 Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. …. 28 Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So, he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. … 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
Genesis 30: Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” 2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.” … 9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. … 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. … 19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. … 22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”
Genesis 49:26 The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
Genesis 48:5 And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Joshua 14:4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim
Commentary: When Rachel had her first son, her sister Leah had already given Jacob six sons and Rachel’s own servant and Leah's servant had also given Jacob two sons each, so Jacob had already had 10 sons, when Joseph, Rachel's son, was born (Jacob ended up having four wives). Having sons was important in those days and having no children was a very difficult and shameful thing for a woman to bear, hence Rachel told Jacob “Give me children, or else I die!” (Genesis 30:1). After ten children by the other three wives and much agony, shame and wait, Joseph was finally born to Rachel and Jacob, after some ten years of marriage. Joseph, however, was a mighty blessing, for he was distinguished amongst his brothers: he became the de facto ruler of the mightiest nation on earth at the time, Egypt, and God gave him two tribes, Ephraim and Manasses, getting twice more than his brothers. Joseph was a great man and he made history, but his mother Rachel (and even Jacob, who loved Rachel dearly) certainly had a long and hard wait until they got this mighty blessing. Let us not lose heart when the wait is long and hard, for the blessings will be mighty too.
Prayer: Lord, we thank You very much for the comfort and assurance that Your Word gives us that that long and hard waits will also result in great and mighty blessings. Help us always persevere and stay on track when the road is difficult, so that we will also obtain the mighty blessings that will follow and we don’t miss out on them, thank You.
TUESDAY
Passage: Genesis 25:20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If this is so, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.” 24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
Commentary: Isaac was forty years old then he took Rebekah to be his wife and he was sixty when his two sons, Esau and Jacob, were born. There was a twenty year wait until he had Esau and Jacob and these are the only sons that he had with Rebekah, his wife. Not only was the wait long, twenty years, but Rebekah had a horrible pregnancy, so much so that she enquired God about it. God told her that she was going to give birth to two nations, which was a huge deal ! It was like giving birth to France and Germany, let’s say, this was the reason for her suffering. The long wait and the acute suffering was all worthwhile and if we are on a similar path, let us take heart, for long and hard waits produced huge blessings, as long as we are on track, God’s track.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we always walk on track, Your track, and we endure the wait and the pain that this track entails, for in due course we will also attain the huge blessings at the end of it. Thank You so much for Your Word, which tells us that this is so.
WEDNESDAY
Passage: Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Commentary: This is a well known passage and it tells us of the benefit of waiting on God. Waiting on God makes us strong, it makes us rise up high and it gives us endurance. I have had my share of long and hard trials waiting on God, but I know that these long and hard trials waiting on God were the ones that got me the spiritual muscle, endurance and whatever promotion I attained. We all want the spiritual muscle, endurance and promotion, but none of us like the road that takes us there, however one cannot have one without the other. I will therefore gladly wait on God for whatever long it takes, because that will give me: 1) renewed strength, 2) it will make me rise up high like the eagle 3) it will make me run and not be weary and 4) walk and not faint. Considering what I get in return for waiting on God, this is actually a very good deal.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we always wait on You, no matter how hard it is, and please help us do so, for we will get strength, promotion and endurance as a consequence. Thank You so much for Your Word, which reveals these things to us.
THURSDAY
Passage: 1 Kings 19:6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So, he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
Commentary: Elijah does eat, but then he goes back to sleep under the broom tree once more (verse 6) ! Elijah is nurturing his depression, so the angel comes back a second time with the same command. It is interesting how God always brings us back to where we were, if we miss doing what we should have in the first place. Elijah finally eats, gets up and goes to God. Going to God is a good port of call in our depression. Elijah did that and so will we. The one thing, however, that we should not do is go back to sleep under the broom tree.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that none of us are found under the broom tree nurturing our depressions, but we get up and go to You instead and overcome our depressions, thank You.
FRIDAY
Passage: 1 Kings 19:9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” … 13 … Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” 15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.
Commentary: Elijah whines to God twice saying that he had been very zealous of Him, the children of Israel had forsaken Him, killed all the prophets and that he was the last man standing. At this stage he is still nurturing his depression, saying “poor me ! poor me !” His complaint or whine is pretty comprehensive and justified, one might very well argue, for his plight was extremely hard and difficult. God, however, does not answer him “oh, poor you, Elijah, I am so sorry, I know this is hard and you have been suffering so much” no ! God has a proactive stance, tells him to return on his way (verse 15) and gives Elijah tasks to do, which would carry on God’s work and that is how Elijah was going to cure his depression. We need a proactive stance when we are in depression, go back the same way we came and do the things God wants us to do in our personal life, work, etc. There is no room for whining, it will achieve nothing, instead we need to get on with the things God wants us to do and move on to victory and that will achieve something and get us out of our depression. The things that Elijah was asked to do would ensure that God’s work would continue. If he had lingered in his depression and done nothing, it would have been a waste. We will be like Elijah, move on, do what God wants us to do and win !
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we cut the whining when we are depressed, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and instead move on, reach out to the things You want us to do and leave our depressions behind and please help us do all this, thank You.
SATURDAY
Passage: 1 Kings 19:18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Commentary: Elijah had had a meltdown and had slipped into a major depression, because he had been very zealous of God, the children of Israel had forsaken God, had killed all the prophets, he was the last man standing and people were after his life. God puts Elijah back on track and then tells him that things were not as bad as he perceived them to be, as there was a remnant in Israel that did not follow Baal (the above passage). This is typical of when we slip into a depression: everything is doom and gloom, we only see negativity around us and we fail to see anything good in our lives ! We must be careful not to let the negativity of a difficult situation be so overpowering that we fail to see the good things that we have in our lives. God told Elijah that things were not as bad as he perceived them to be and He is telling us the same thing today. I pray that we always see the positive things that we have in our lives and not only the negative ones, for if we only see the negative ones, that will be very discouraging and we need good courage, not negativity in our spiritual battles in order to win in them.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we always see the positive things in our lives when we are going through trials and not only the negative ones. We pray too that we are never discouraged, but we always have good courage in our spiritual battles instead, thank You.