The Danger of Instant Gratification
Abraham was a man after God’s heart. He was the foundation of a people that God had set apart for His pleasure. God promised that he’d make Abraham’s seed to multiply and many nations will be formed through him (Gen.17).
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his children were the generations that God used to form the path to the promise. They did not partake in the promise. Joseph was the first to go on the journey to slavery before his story was then turned around and he became the Prime Minister.
Imagine what Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and his children (the 12 tribes of Israel) would have thought about at the end of their lives if they had not walked with God in Faith? The fathers were the foundation of what God was set to do in the generations to come. What would have become of the promise if they had failed! We all have a role to play in the fulfillment of God’s promises to us!
Are you in unity with God to fulfill an agenda that you will not directly benefit from? Equipping the next generation, Nation building, preserving the church and what it stands for, for the next generation? There came a Pharoah that didn’t recognize or regard who Joseph was and his contributions to Egypt. In a flash, the Israelites became slaves in the land they were once free. For 430 years, they were slaves. When it was time for the promise to be fulfilled, when God was ready to take the children of Israel out of Egypt, they gad forgotten who they were. Moses had an uphill battle with convincing them about God’s plan for them. We saw this theme throughout their journey to the promise land. They murmured and complained about everything even when God kept dealing with them with divers miracles. The children of Israel who was rescued out of Egypt wanted instant gratification so badly and were working against God’s original intent for them. As they continued to frustrate God’s plan for them, he needed to write them out of his original script. This was what led them to the journey in the wilderness, hoping that at some point they would finally embrace God’s love for them.They spent 40 years for a journey that should only have lasted 40 days until all the adults who emancipated from Egypt died in the wilderness!
Only Caleb and Joshua were in alignment and their lives were preserved! Either way, God will ensure his plan is fulfilled. The question is will you work in alignment with God or you are like the Children of Israel who will written off God’s script?