The Process to the Promise
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:13-14
Adam and Eve lost the dominion they had been given because of what they ate. Jesus started taking back that dominion because He fasted.
Jesus went through a process of fasting 40 days to prepare Him for ministry. That was one part of the process that paved the way for God’s promise to be fulfilled through the cross. I’m thankful every day that Jesus didn’t take the shortcut; that He went through the process to get to the promise.
Remember, every setback you encounter … every time God says, “No” when you think He should say “Yes” … every time things go wrong and you just don’t understand—God is shaping you. He is molding you and training you, developing your faith and trust in Him.
Sometimes God makes a promise that requires a process. So often, we want the promise but we do not want to go through God’s process to get us there. We are too impatient. We want answers overnight. We forget the Scriptures that command us to wait upon the Lord. Jesus was waiting on God for forty days and nights as He fasted in the wilderness … God was working on Him. And there is work going on in you right now that you may not be fully aware of.
Without fasting, prayer and wilderness experiences, you will never be qualified to handle what God has for you in the future. Fasting prepares you for what is yet to come! Intimacy cannot be rushed. It must be worked on day by day. Even Jesus would get alone with God and pray. He knew that He needed to stay tapped into the Source of all things, and so do we.
Don’t be quick to give up when you don’t hear from God right away or see the results you expected quickly. It takes tenacity to endure the process and all the while, you’re gaining intimacy with the Father.
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