It’s Only a Matter of Time

It was the Promise of the ages. But then there was the gap – the one between the promise and the manifestation.

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Have you ever had a word branded onto your heart by God? A promise about what will be? A glimpse of some wild thing He’s going to do? A long-time prayer He’s going to make a reality?

Yeah. Me too.

I love this about Him. Sometimes He speaks these promises through the pages of Scripture. We’re in a passage we’ve read a thousand times, and suddenly, it’s different. The Spirit breathes on it, and that familiar passage is now alive and bursting with a specific promise for us.

Other times, we’re simply hit with an unexpected surge of clarity. Some veil is lifted, and all of a sudden, we can see how a piece of our lives is going to play out.

These Spirit-breathed promises wash over us with hope for the future. And Grace to steady ourselves in Him… because the reality of our lives looks very different from the glimpse Heaven just gave us.

That’s the thing about His promises.

Between our current reality and the promise stands a huge gap. Harder still is the fact that the gap usually seems to widen after He speaks the promise.

It already felt far-fetched…then after the promise is spoken—oftentimes—all hell breaks loose.

Heaven allowed us to glimpse a glorious door that will one day open. The addiction that will one day be obliterated. The debt that will one day be canceled. The infirmity that will one day be healed. The relationship that will one day be restored. A tidal wave of expectation rushed over us. And now, so soon after, that door stands closed.

Closed and locked.

Deadbolted.

It’s here, in this fragile place where it seems all of hell has been unleashed against the promise, that we’re tempted to let go of it. To discard His word as wishful thinking. To see Him as unfaithful, unloving, and untrue to His word.

But, Friend, don’t do it. Don’t let go.

If the Father has promised you something, rest assured:

It’s only a matter of time.

Hell will fight it. Opposition will come. The circumstances of life will contradict it. But we should expect this. Otherwise, we wouldn’t need a promise.

Current realities need no promise. I don’t need a whisper from Heaven to tell me that I will be 5’2” one day. That’s already the case. There’s no opposition there. No faith required for me to believe that this will manifest.

This sounds ridiculous, I know. But it’s easy to miss this obvious truth when the battle is raging. We heard the Father speak, we got a peek at what will be. But now, everything around us is shouting how foolish we are to believe what God said.

But, Friend, this gap—the one between our current reality and the promise—it has existed from the very beginning of the Story…

Humanity didn’t take long to screw things up. We made it all of two chapters. By Genesis 3, Adam and Eve decided they knew more than God and took matters into their own hands. Evil infected the universe…and humanity, hopeless in its own efforts, needed a promise.

And, oh, what a promise we got. Genesis 3:15 tells of the glorious Seed who would come and crush the head of the enemy—who would overturn, overthrow, and destroy the adversary of God’s image-bearers.

It was the Promise of the ages. But then there was the gap – the one between the promise and the manifestation. For centuries, the story of humanity seemed to be getting worse and worse. Rebellion. Witchcraft. Murder. Rape. Every form of depravity imaginable.

But it was only a matter of time.

God’s Seed was finally planted inside of Mary. It was the beginning of the enemy’s undoing. Jesus put humanity’s promise on display—healing the sick, setting captives free, and speaking the Word of Truth.

But then He was killed. The Seed, the long-awaited Promise, humanity’s only Hope of rescue—was dead.

Genesis 3:15 was sounding pretty mistaken at this point.

But it was only a matter of time.

That Seed—that Glorious Seed—He descended into the depths during those three days. Hell unleashed its fury against the Promise of the ages. And just when that Promise seemed like the epitome of foolishness, death, and nonexistence, it was resurrected into full manifestation.

The smaller stories within God’s one, big story have this same gap between current reality and spoken promise.

Abraham was promised a child when he and Sarai were as good as dead (Genesis 17). And years passed after Isaac was prophesied. But it was only a matter of time.

Joseph was given dreams about his destiny (Genesis 37), only to live the next several years in a reality that seemed to totally contradict those dreams. But it was only a matter of time.

David was a young man when he was anointed as king of Israel (I Samuel 16). Years and lots of contrary circumstances stood between the spoken promise and its fulfillment. But it was only a matter of time.

Friend, no amount of time or opposition has ever stopped the promises of God.

Some of you reading this have been given glimpses of things God is going to do. He showed you a healed body. A spouse. A college degree. A restored relationship. A child. Freedom from addiction. A calling. A dream.

You’ve seen a door that will one day be open. And through its cracks, you’ve seen light shining from the other side.

But it’s been a looooong journey. The promise was spoken years ago, and you feel further away from it now than you ever have. At times, you’ve been hurt, disappointed, and wearied from the wait.

Friend, I’m here to tell you:

It’s only a matter of time.

If the Father told you something, He will do it. He finishes what He starts. And He will never forget what He told you. Even if you do forget.

That deadbolt will be unlocked. It’s only a matter of time until Heaven blows that door off its hinges.

It’s only a matter of time.

Featured Image By Srikanta H.U.

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on hayleyhewitt.com.

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Crafting for His Glory.