But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
—2 Peter 3:8-9
It took the children of Israel forty years to inhabit their Promise Land, when it was a journey that could have taken them eleven days. The Bible says their Promise Land was abundant with a great luxury of natural wealth, but the land was possessed by intimidating giants. So the people were scared to go fight to inhabit the land. Numbers 13:30-31 says, “But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. ‘Let’s go at once to take the land,’ he said. ‘We can certainly conquer it!’ But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. ‘We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!’” Eventually, the spies, who didn’t believe they could conquer the giants, convinced the entire congregation of people that it was a lost cause for them to even try to fight for their promise. This is a major example of how easily people and situations can potentially throw us out of congruence with the promises God has made.
The Bible says, this man Caleb (as well as Joshua) has been indignant that if God promised them the land, that their victory would be inevitable. Numbers 14:6-8 says, “Joshua and Caleb tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, ‘The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us.’” But still the people rebelled and could not Align their mentality to believe they had the ability to take hold of their promise. Eventually, God told Moses to tell the people to turn around and travel in the opposite direction of the Promise Land. God then said, “my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored.” Because Caleb and Joshua believed what God believed concerning them, God considered them to be “loyal” to him and qualified them to take hold of what he promised.
Sometimes, it is not that God is slow in fulfilling his promises as much as it is our jobs to align ourselves with what God has said. Are we conditioning ourselves to live, believe, think, and conduct ourselves according to who and what God says we are? Or are we letting situations and circumstances alter the way we see and carry ourselves? If the children of Israel went to fight for their Promise Land without believing they had the capacity to defeat their giants (as God promised), they would have been defeated and destroyed in the very land that was supposed to be a blessing to them. Let us always remember the verses above that say “God is not slow in fulfilling his promises.” God wants us to have what he promised us. It is our job to align ourselves with what God has said. The more we align ourselves with the things God has said, the sooner we qualify to be able to take hold of what He has promised.
Lots of Love, XO
