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Now fortunately for anyone in Christ, the judgment of God has been removed by the cross, and the only words that we wait on for fulfillment are promises of healing, deliverance and salvation. Moreover, we can stand on the fact that even if we don’t see the complete answer to our prayers in our own lifetime, God is STILL WORKING and his word contains its own self-fulfilling power.

When I put a seed in my garden, the energy that the seed requires to grow is inside it.  The sun and water activate the energy-food in that seed which it uses to grow.  God’s word is a seed that we plant into our lives.  But we must remember that our lives are not just the 70-80 years we live on this planet. We are eternal.  Therefore, we are extremely short-sighted when we get discouraged that we don’t see an answer to prayer after one week or one month of praying about it.  For that matter, even one year of our lives is less than a drop in the ocean of our eternal existence.

Let me share a great example of how God sometimes answers prayer in generations, not just in lifetimes. I once heard a story of a missionary whose grandmother received a word from the Lord that she would go to the nations.  However, unfortunately, this dear woman had to care for an infirm family member and couldn’t leave her home town. She was never able to go to the missionary field as she had dreamed.  Nonetheless, she became a mighty prayer warrior and worker of miracles so that people from all over the world came to her home to receive prayer and healing. We could say that God fulfilled her dream in a different way.

But now let’s flash forward two generations to her granddaughter.  This young woman, although raised in a godly family, was determined to rebel against everything she had seen modeled in her family.  But despite her determination to walk away from the Lord, He reached down and captivated her heart. He spoke to her in such a personal way that she turned her life to Jesus and was called to the mission field.  This missionary and her husband have been to hundreds of countries seeing millions of people come to Jesus and now they minister in their home country in Germany with great power.  The point of this story, as you can imagine, is that what was promised to the grandmother came to pass in complete fulfillment two generations later in her granddaughter.

That dear woman saw a part of what she had dreamed of – her life was full with Jesus’ presence and she utilized every ounce of it for His glory.  But God had more! Can you imagine her joy as she leans over the balcony of heaven watching her beloved grand-daughter walking in the complete fullness of the promise?  She shares as much in that reward as if it were her own feet that trod upon foreign soil.  The seed of her faith resulted in the salvation of millions in countries she never saw.

We can rejoice in the greatness of a God who never fails and Who never allows His word to return to Him empty, without having achieved what He sent it forth to do.  There will be no IOU’s in heaven!

Now you:

  • Will you still be found trusting God even if in your lifetime you don’t see the complete fulfillment of the promises God has made to you?
  • Do you have the perspective on eternity to know that He is faithful and not one Word of His promises will go unfulfilled?
  • Does it encourage your heart to know that there will be no IOU’s in heaven?