He Will Fulfill!

By Daniela Tascarella

Contending for The Faith is an inspiring theme. It speaks of believing the Gospel and God’s promises: that Jesus died on the cross for us and rose again for our salvation; that He did all the miracles we read of in the Bible and will continue to work miracles today; that He sent us to declare that Good News; and that He is coming again for His Bride, the Church.

We generally have no trouble with The Faith. But what about our faith? Do we believe?

Yes, of course! We believe that God works through His people. We believe that God answers prayer. We believe that God will come through for everyone around us.

But at times, we may have trouble believing that God will do the same for us.

“Just have faith!” your brothers and sisters at church may tell you… and usually, you do. But when you are waiting on God’s promises and it seems like your prayers are going unanswered, that’s often easier said than done. This is especially true if you have been waiting awhile – and by awhile, I mean a very long while. Not months, sometimes, but years.

During those seasons of waiting, we can get frustrated, thinking Everyone else’s prodigals got saved; when will mine get saved? My friends have been launched into ministry/got married/had kids/got their dream job and home… what about me? God, do you remember me?

Of course, God remembers you! He created you and He loves you. Don’t begin telling yourself that what you have been praying for is not God’s will, or that the promises He made were figurative and not literal; don’t compromise your faith with rationalizations that may pop into your mind.

If God promised, He will fulfill!

Numbers 23:19 says: “God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent. Has he said and He will not do? Or, has he spoken, and will He not make it good?”

God’s track record is 100%. No exceptions. He is not about to settle for 99% in your case.

Art by Nina Dominguez

In 1 John 5:14 it says, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

If we ask according to His will, He will fulfill!

Not in the timing we would have liked, perhaps, but in His timing and for His glory.

Don’t you think that God cares a lot more than you do about that wayward loved one? Don’t you think that He wants to bless you even more than you desire to be blessed? That He wants to use your life even more than you want to use it for Him?

God’s promises are ever faithful, regardless of the troubles He allows us to encounter. Holding onto God’s promises may not always seem like the easiest option, but it is always the best.

Consider God’s promises to Israel. In 1903, the Jews needed a homeland, and the proposed location was Uganda. What?! Didn’t God promise to bring the Jews back to the land of Israel?

Yes, God did declare that, but when we begin to doubt God’s promises and start to come up with our own alternatives, things can get a bit crazy.

Isaiah 66:8 clearly states that God promised to miraculously restore Israel in a single day: “Who has heard such things? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.”

As the British Mandate was ending, the Jewish leaders had just a few days to decide a course of action. As sundown ushered in the Sabbath on May 14, 1948, Israel’s Declaration of Independence was read from a set of notes, as it was too late for the Israeli pioneers to write it. The signers signed an empty scroll and then headed home to light the Sabbath candles, and Israel was literally born in a day.

What God promised, He will fulfill!

We may not understand how God’s promises could possibly be achieved, but you can rest assured: it will happen just the way He said. Isaiah 66 was written about 2,500 years before it came to pass, but God did exactly what He said He would do.

Some Christians have missed the miracle of Israel entirely. They declare that the Church is the new Israel and that the Jews are just colonists who have stolen the land. This creeping false doctrine (Replacement Theology) not only negates the Old Testament altogether, but it disregards Paul’s New Testament writings as well.

In Romans 11:17-21, Paul depicts Israel as a natural olive tree into which the Gentiles have been grafted through Christ: “And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.’ Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.”

Even some Orthodox Jews don’t believe in the modern State of Israel. They believe Messiah has yet to return and re-establish the Nation of Israel, so they don’t support their own God-given land.

We can’t put God into a box that fits with our world view or experiences. God works in ways that we don’t understand, so we can’t give up the fight of faith just because things aren’t moving the way we think they should.

There was a time when I was shocked to find a friend had backslidden, because every outward appearance was of a young person that was serving God. Their parents said, “I think my child got discouraged in their faith.” This devoted young soul was so bombarded by ungodliness at school and in their environment that they got weary of fighting the fight of faith and just gave in to the flow.

People may get weary and give up, but God never gives up on us. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

So the story is not over for this prodigal; it’s not over for your loved one, either.

During long periods of waiting on God for our answers, we all pass through seasons of doubt, depression, and self-pity – maybe even bitterness. The danger comes when we stay in that dark place.

Proverbs 24:16 says that the righteous man may fall seven times, but he gets back up again. When we are in that dark place of doubt, we have to put our eyes on Jesus and get back up.

The Bible tells us to run our race “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

The waiting period is never comfortable for any of us. However, I exhort you to keep your eyes on Jesus.

He is the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). He provided a covering for man’s sin before He ever said, “Let there be light,” so that we, as heirs with Christ, will rule with Him one day (Romans 8:17). This is truly beyond understanding.

Now consider Romans 8:32, which tell us: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

Why would He not fulfill His promises to you and me that are so much easier to fulfill – and in some ways, so much more logical to believe for, humanly speaking?

As Paul told the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always! The Lord is near… Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).

Proverbs 13:12 says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is the tree of life.” When that unsaved family member comes home; when you get launched into ministry; when you get married; have that child; buy that home – your brothers and sisters in the family of God will rejoice with you.

If God is having you wait on His promises right now, you can be sure He’ll also give you the grace to have faith during the waiting period, if you ask Him.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).