January 15th, 2026
This week, as many of us have been fasting to begin this year, I’ve been thinking about God’s faithfulness. This may seem like an elementary subject for believers, but it’s essential that we have unshakable conviction in the truth that God will do what He says He will do. It’s that truth that allows us to stand on His promises.
If you don’t live in revelation of God’s faithfulness, even His promises will become a burden to you. That may sound strange but think about the story of Abraham and Sarah. God promised Abraham, who was childless, that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars when he was seventy-five years old (Genesis 12). If Isaac had been born then, it would have been a miracle, but he wasn’t. It was another twenty-five years before God fulfilled His promise. Look at what the Bible says of their faith in the process!
Romans 4:18-22 says of Abraham:
‘In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”’
Hebrews 11:11-12 says of Sarah:
“By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
Abraham grew strong in his faith when he became “fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.” Sarah received power to conceive because she “considered Him faithful who had promised.” It was not their understanding of the promise that gave them faith. It was their eventual rest in the truth that God would be faithful to His Word. The Bible records their faith, because God will remember our victories by grace when we repent, but they weren’t perfect. About ten years after the promise was first given, they took matters into their own hands. Genesis 16:1-4 says,
‘Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.’
Abraham had a son, Ishmael, with Sarah’s servant Hagar and the consequences of that decision were weightier than we could ever know. However, I don’t want to talk about the consequences but the root of the decision itself. Do you see Sarah’s reasoning? She believed a lie about God Himself and came up with her own plan to produce an heir for Abraham. He agreed. This may seem unimaginable, but have you never tried to make something happen your own way instead of waiting on the Lord’s timing? I’m sure we all have.
We’ll never know, but I wonder if this would have happened if God had never given the promise to Abraham. They allowed God’s promise to become a burden when they didn’t trust His timing and tried to make it happen themselves.
Every promise of God is an opportunity to trust Him. Every promise is a test of our faith to believe that God will keep His Word. He is always faithful!
David is an example of someone who didn’t try to make God’s promise come to pass in his own timing. He was anointed king of Israel by the prophet Samuel somewhere between ten and fifteen years before he took the throne. In that time, he served King Saul and did not try to take matters into his own hands, trusting that God would fulfill His Word.
God gives promises to fuel our faith with vision and hope. You can be confident about every promise He’s given you because He’s faithful. However, you can never take steps according to your own plans to try to make His promises come to pass. God will lead and guide you according to His Word even now. He will give you the necessary steps to take in every season, even if you don’t understand how they will lead you to the promise.
This is not to relegate God’s promises for you now to some future time. For example, Jesus already bore your sickness on the cross, so His desire is for you to be healed now. Some of God’s promises, though, have timing attached to them. There are seasons we will have to wait on the Lord and allow Him to renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31).
Paul told Timothy to “wage good warfare in accordance with the promises he’d been given” (1 Timothy 1:18).
In the same letter, he told him to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).
Our responsibility is to wage war by allowing His promises to strengthen our faith, not by trying to make them come to pass. His promises are a strength to us as we walk in obedience to His Word and confidence in His faithfulness. God will keep His promises as we keep His Word with the passion and zeal of His Spirit!
Deuteronomy 7:9:
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations…”
Lamentations 3:22-23:
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24:
“He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.”
2 Timothy 2:13:
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.”
1 Corinthians 1:9:
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Philippians 1:6:
“I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
If you don’t live in revelation of God’s faithfulness, even His promises will become a burden to you. That may sound strange but think about the story of Abraham and Sarah. God promised Abraham, who was childless, that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars when he was seventy-five years old (Genesis 12). If Isaac had been born then, it would have been a miracle, but he wasn’t. It was another twenty-five years before God fulfilled His promise. Look at what the Bible says of their faith in the process!
Romans 4:18-22 says of Abraham:
‘In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”’
Hebrews 11:11-12 says of Sarah:
“By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
Abraham grew strong in his faith when he became “fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.” Sarah received power to conceive because she “considered Him faithful who had promised.” It was not their understanding of the promise that gave them faith. It was their eventual rest in the truth that God would be faithful to His Word. The Bible records their faith, because God will remember our victories by grace when we repent, but they weren’t perfect. About ten years after the promise was first given, they took matters into their own hands. Genesis 16:1-4 says,
‘Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.’
Abraham had a son, Ishmael, with Sarah’s servant Hagar and the consequences of that decision were weightier than we could ever know. However, I don’t want to talk about the consequences but the root of the decision itself. Do you see Sarah’s reasoning? She believed a lie about God Himself and came up with her own plan to produce an heir for Abraham. He agreed. This may seem unimaginable, but have you never tried to make something happen your own way instead of waiting on the Lord’s timing? I’m sure we all have.
We’ll never know, but I wonder if this would have happened if God had never given the promise to Abraham. They allowed God’s promise to become a burden when they didn’t trust His timing and tried to make it happen themselves.
Every promise of God is an opportunity to trust Him. Every promise is a test of our faith to believe that God will keep His Word. He is always faithful!
David is an example of someone who didn’t try to make God’s promise come to pass in his own timing. He was anointed king of Israel by the prophet Samuel somewhere between ten and fifteen years before he took the throne. In that time, he served King Saul and did not try to take matters into his own hands, trusting that God would fulfill His Word.
God gives promises to fuel our faith with vision and hope. You can be confident about every promise He’s given you because He’s faithful. However, you can never take steps according to your own plans to try to make His promises come to pass. God will lead and guide you according to His Word even now. He will give you the necessary steps to take in every season, even if you don’t understand how they will lead you to the promise.
This is not to relegate God’s promises for you now to some future time. For example, Jesus already bore your sickness on the cross, so His desire is for you to be healed now. Some of God’s promises, though, have timing attached to them. There are seasons we will have to wait on the Lord and allow Him to renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31).
Paul told Timothy to “wage good warfare in accordance with the promises he’d been given” (1 Timothy 1:18).
In the same letter, he told him to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).
Our responsibility is to wage war by allowing His promises to strengthen our faith, not by trying to make them come to pass. His promises are a strength to us as we walk in obedience to His Word and confidence in His faithfulness. God will keep His promises as we keep His Word with the passion and zeal of His Spirit!
Deuteronomy 7:9:
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations…”
Lamentations 3:22-23:
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24:
“He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.”
2 Timothy 2:13:
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful—for He cannot deny Himself.”
1 Corinthians 1:9:
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Philippians 1:6:
“I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
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