Genesis 21:1-8

The beginning of each year brings with it a new focus word for me.  This is a word I have felt God prodding me with, a word that comes up in conversation, in reading time or even in song.  A few years ago the word was perseverance and God kept dropping it in my quiet time with Him.  (read James 1:2-4) He was calling on me to keep moving forward with the plan He had been revealing to me.

"Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised." (Genesis 21:1)

Does God do this for you?  Do you stop long enough to hear His voice?  I found that to be a key for me.  I had to learn not to let my agenda collide with His plan and His promises for me.  Perseverance was a challenging word for me to practice and I am still practicing it today.

There have been many words over the past few years and my current one is "relentless".  When I first discerned the word I thought it was a negative word, but now know it is not.  It is the way He wants me to be this year.  I have spent too much time grieving and then vacillating between decisions. My indecisiveness even irritated me.  God has been telling me that He is in control, I am not.

His promises are real and I can depend on His Word and so he is telling me to be relentless. Just as He promised Sarah would bear a son in her old age and He fulfilled that promise, I must believe too.  I must be persistent in my study of Him, unyielding in my writing for Him, insistent in my relationships with others.  I am sensing it is time to take God at His Word and move forward with a relentless spirit and heart.

Read the Genesis 21:1-8 text here.  Listen to an audio of Genesis 21:1-8 here.