IT WILL BE LONG TIME

“It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” Jeremiah 29:28b NIV

THE PROMISE.

Most of us have read Jeremiah chapter 29 only up to verse 11, which reads “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster plans to give you a future filled with hope.” This words lifts up the hope of each soul that hears or read them and they should for they are the true words of the Almighty GOD who is “not man that HE can tell lies”. God’s words are always faithful and true, His promises He keeps.

BEYOND THE PROMISE.

Yes “Heaven and Earth shall pass away and God’s Word shall remain” God never repents from what He declares or promise. But beyond the promise there is one most important thing that we overlook when considering the plans God has for us. We fail to understand that God’s plans and promises for our lives come to pass at His own time not ours. It does not mean right after you reads Jeremiah 29:11 is then that God starts acting on the plans He has for your life.

Before you came across the promise God was already in action/motion considering His plans for your life, the promise is there to enable you to wait in faith on God.  

REASON FOR  WAITING.

There is always a waiting period to everything great that is to come. For great things God bring on a perfect setting so as to allow their greatness to be evident. Great men and women of faith had to wait for God’s promises to be manifested upon their lives.

• Abraham waited twenty-five years before his wife Sarah gave birth to their first child.
• Joseph slogged through thirteen years of betrayal, false imprisonment, and abandonment before assuming the leadership of Egypt.
• Moses spent forty years tending sheep before God called him as a deliverer of His people.
• David spent fourteen years before the throne of Israel would be his.
• Jesus Christ waited 30 years before His ministry began and an additional 3 years to take the sins of the world away.

The reason for the waiting is that God might be able to work all things in place, not only to better prepare us for what He has planned for us but also to prepare our surrounding to be fitting for what God has planned for us. That is when things seems to be falling apart someone out of the unexpected maybe there to offer a helping hand bring order and meaning to whatever we may be facing.

OTHER PEOPLE’S PROMISES MAY HAVE TO COME TO PASS FIRST TO MAKE WAY FOR YOURS.

As already mentioned part of the waiting includes that others around you might prosper before you do for their prosperity might turn to be one step up the ladder towards your prosperity. This might go to explain the reason why we have the commandment “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s [ownership]” Exodus 20:17. For wanting what other people have been blessed with stop you from receiving that which God wants to bless you with.

God said to the Israelites captives at Babylon “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” [Jeremiah 29:7 Kjv] God will never place you at a place or in a situation that will benefit you nothing He always has a plan for every direction He leads you to take.

• Moses had to wait 40 years for God’s plans for his life to be in motion and what was happening all that time behind the scenes? The Israelites where growing in number as Moses waited Jacob’s inheritance was being prospered in number.

• Jesus waited 30 years for His ministry to take motion. At the same time behind the scenes John the Baptize’s ministry was being prospered and through the prosperity of John’s ministry came Christ’s prosperity in receiving the Holy Spirit of God.

Yes we will have to pray for other people and bless them so that we too can be blessed.

YOU WILL HAVE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD IN LIFE AS YOU WAIT.

Waiting unto God’s promises for your life does not mean you have to stop living. This means as you wait for God to lead you to the fulfillment of His plans for your life you still put your faith and trust onto God for other basic areas of your life. You will still have to believe God for perfect health, financial security, and relationship success, physical and spiritual success etc.

As the Israelites waited in captivity at the foreign land of the Babylonians God said to them ‘do not wait while wasting away’ No “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.  Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!” Jeremiah 29:5-6 NLT.

HOW TO WAIT.

One may ask “how or in which way will I have to wait unto God while making sure that my wait does not delay God from acting upon my life”. Well we can find the answer to that question from the words of the Prophet Habakkuk in which he says “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint.” Habakkuk 2:1 NLT

• A WATCHTOWER is a tower on a high place built high enough to afford a person to be able to see for some distance.

That mean you are able to foresee things unseen by common eye, by using your faith-eye you’re able to gaze into the world of the things that are not as though they were and you begin praising God for them.

As you climb up your watchtower or gaze with your faith-eye into the realm of the unseen there you will find your guard post place of safety from unseen invading outsiders. Other bible translations use the word ramparts instead of guard post.

• A RAMPART is a defensive wall of a castle or walled city, having a broad top with a walkway.

There is only one defensive wall that a child of God can trust his/her life upon and that is the Holy Word of God being the Holy Bible. The Psalmist David gave praises to God for His saving Word by saying “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105 Kjv. This truth apply to each and every child of God whose trust lay on the Almighty God alone, for God’s Word will teach you how to a pleaser of God and those who bring pleasure to God He blesses!

Yes “it will be a long time” Jeremiah 29:28 but all of God’s promises shall come to pass. Wait upon the LORD and He will get you where you want to be in no time.

REPEAT THIS WORDS UNTIL YOU RECEIVE FROM GOD THAT WHICH HE PROMISE YOU WILL RECEIVE:

“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,

And there are no grapes on the vines;

Even though the olive crop fails,

And the fields lie empty and barren;

Even though the flocks die in the fields,

And the cattle barns are empty,

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD!

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

The Sovereign LORD is my strength!

He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

Able to tread upon the heights.”

HABAKKUK 3:17-19