Today's encouragement comes from Genesis 21:1, where we read these words:
"And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken."Sarah had to wait a long time to get what she wanted, and for what she had undoubtedly often petitioned God concerning, (namely, a child—whom she got, in Isaac). Had God given Sarah what she desired earlier, when she so earnestly sought for it—it would have been a disaster for Sarah (and for the rest of the world, too). She was not particularly "patient," but the Lord over-looked that, and was gracious to her.
What is it that we have long and ardently "sought for"? Let us not lose hope; and let us not give up. If this desire is Christ-exalting, we should continue to wait for the Lord, and not cease to continue to ask God for it.
[Puritan quote of the day: "The more we see the grace of God in Christ, the spirit of fear is diminished and replaced by a spirit of love and boldness.”
—Richard Sibbes, in, "Glorious Freedom"]
