DON’T ABORT YOUR PROMISE BECAUSE OF YOUR IMPATIENCE.

Today’s Scripture: Galatians 4:22-24

It says,

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.

TODAYS MESSAGE
Paul called this story figurative. Although Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar have been dead for thousands of years, their story is still an example to us today of learning to walk in the Spirit. Abraham brought Hagar back with him from Egypt when he tried to run away to that country to escape the famine in Canaan. Instead of trusting in God and the promises given, Abraham tried to solve his own problems and created a worse one. He almost did not make it out of Egypt after he lied to the Pharaoh about his wife Sarah. He told the king she was his sister and was available for the king to take into his harem. God had to give the king a dream and warn him about Sarah. When Abraham left Egypt, he took a maiden with him to take care of his home.

Quite a period of time passed and it looked like the promise of God was not going to pass for Abraham and Sarah to have a son. Abraham had been restored by God’s power and could have a child, but Sarah was still barren. Hagar walked through the house each day and the temptation arose in Abraham and Sarah for the son to come through Hagar. After all, a son is a son! Yet, they had forgotten God’s promise that in Isaac, their seed would be called. Through Sarah and Isaac, all nations would be blessed.

When Abraham had a son through the bondmaid, all hell broke loose in the home! Abraham definitely had a son, but not the son of promise. This son may have looked like any other boy, but he was not God’s spiritual answer. The flesh could only imitate the promise of the Spirit. Isaac, who eventually came through Sarah, produced a spiritual race of believers in the earth through his eventual offspring, the SEED, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The flesh can only produce flesh. It may look like joy, but it is only temporary happiness. It may appear to be love, but it is only temporary affection or lust. It may appear to be patience, but it is only tolerance. Real joy, love, and patience are spiritual products and can only come from the Holy Spirit inside of us. The eternal Holy Spirit produces eternal answers.

Anything that’s temporary is never permanent …. meaning it will only last for a short time before it expires. Feeling of Relief is a feeling of calmness after experiencing some form of stress and anxiety. Temporary relief brings calmness for a short time … but it will never bring closure to whatever was causing the anxiety or stress.

Sometimes when pain is absent for a short period we do not give it our full attention forgetting that the root cause was not dealt with …. and before long the pain will resurface. The relief makes a person become comfortable enough to forget that the situation remains unresolved.

Temporary relief makes people repeat cycles of dysfunction because the calmness tricked them into believing that the pain was gone. Some girls are habitually drawn to losers and some guys accept the nightmares of bad relationships both believing that it’s better to be in a bad relationship than to be lonely. The relief is temporary. 

People living an abnormal or out of the ordinary life should at least be mentally healthy to recognize when they need help. Living with temporary relief is convincing your mind that things are okay when it is not. It will only encourage negative thinking and behavior that would soon erupt into anxiety and frustrations when the pain returns. It’s hard to stand by and watch someone trying to fix a leak with a hammer. But the challenge is … if they are convinced that the hammer is the right tool for the job … then there’s nothing more you can say to them until they ask for help.

The woman with the issue of blood for many years went looking for help. She knew Jesus was in her city and if she didn’t get to Him … the window of opportunity would have gone … and she would have to continue living in her misery. Pride will keep a person believing that temporary relief is the way to deal with issues.A glass of wine will dull the pain for a moment, a date night will keep you happy for the hour, a mini vacation will take you away for a week …. all these are temporary relief that have not dealt with the root cause of the misery. The best time to know God is when the pain is unbearable.

Stop aborting your promises because of temporary relief.