Hold On to God's Promises

In my last entry I talked about Abraham and how God and given him something to do that made no sense to him at all and he stepped out on faith. In this entry I would like to talk a little more about Abraham and how we all can learn and be blessed by what we know about his life.
My mother has been going through a very difficult health crisis for almost two years now. At times she is very discouraged. She thinks she is not getting better, when in fact she is. Her progress has been very slow and she has had so many setbacks that it is hard to remember them all. With each setback she has had to start all over again. I can understand why she feels discouraged and down hearted. She has to keep a positive attitude and be thankful the progress she is making. It's hard to do when you are in a lot of pain, but it is an important part of the healing process.
Abraham had lived a long time his faith had been tested and he had made mistakes, but he did not allow his lack of faith in a moment wipe away all that he knew was true about God. God had promised that he would be a father of a great nation and at 99 years old he had not yet had a child with his wife Sarah who was just a few years younger than he was. How would you feel if you were given a promise and 40 to 50 years went by and that promise had not yet come to pass? Well in Romans 8: 14 - 20 it states "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God."(NIV)
Wow! And again I say, "Wow!" Abraham had the kind of faith and hope that gets you through a storm. I mean, no child and he and his wife were in their nineties. At that point in your life do you even want children any more? I can't say, I'm not that old and if I live to be that old, it is my hope that I will have hope like Abraham. We all need that kind of hope. If you know his story then you will also know that he and Sarah did in fact have a child. It was truly amazing.
Why did God wait so long before he fulfilled His promise to Abraham? I don't know, but would we know about it all these years later if He had not waited? What makes Abraham and Sarah's story to special is that is is so unlike so many others. There is no doubt that God stepped in and made it happen. Women just don't have children that late in their lives.
So if you think you are too old for something, don't have enough information or talent, don't lose hope, have faith and step out in wisdom and in faith and you may receive all the promises that God has given you. My mother is learning to focus in on the positives in her life and it builds up her faith and hope, you can do the same.