Already Done

"No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations." 
Genesis 17:5 (NIV)

Abraham is the president of H.A.R.P., the Hebrew Association of Retired People. He's ninety-nine. Sarah is ninety. They've been waiting thirty years for God to make good on a promise he made when they were seventy and sixty.

And now God speaks.

He changes Abraham's name from Abram, meaning "father of many," to Abraham, meaning "father of multitudes." To a childless ninety-nine-year-old, that name must have felt like a mockery. 

But notice how God phrases this promise. "I have made you a father of many nations." Not "I will someday." Past tense. As far as God is concerned, it's already done.

God says "I will" twelve times in this chapter. Twelve. Hudson Taylor once said every work of God passes through three stages. Impossible. Difficult. Done. Abraham wasn't being ignored. He was living through the difficult stage on the way to done.

So what does that mean when your prayer hasn’t been answered yet? Before you open your phone, grab a piece of paper and write down the promise you're waiting on. Put today's date on it. Then write three words underneath. Impossible. Difficult. Done. 

Every morning this week, lay that paper before God. Not as a demand, but as an act of surrender and trust in a God who hasn't forgotten a word He's spoken over your life. 

God always has the last laugh. He named that baby Isaac, which means laughter. Every time Abraham called his son's name, it was a reminder that God keeps his word.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the hope in Abraham’s story! I won't pretend the waiting is easy. But you said "I will" to a ninety-nine-year-old man and You meant every word. Today I’m bringing you what I’m waiting on and You haven't forgotten me. I trust Your timing. In Jesus' Name, Amen.