The verse above is part of the prophecy of the previously barren Hannah

Elizabeth was barren, but she brought forth the herald of the Lamb of God. We inherit the promises through faith and patience.

Moses took care of his father-in-law's sheep on the mountains for forty years, before God spoke to him.

The Apostle Paul suffered the goads of the Holy Spirit before Christ revealed Himself to him. Then Paul went to Arabia rather than confer with the other Apostles. Paul needed time with the Lord.

It may be possible to be raised in a Christian home, go to Bible college or seminary, and then enter the ministry. But often this is not the case. The individual is brought through unusual circumstances while God prepares him for the work to which he has been called.

God tells such to rejoice. Although it appears their life has not been as fruitful as one could wish, if it has been God who has caused the barrenness, when the right moment arrives, the fruit will be greater than the occasions when there has been no delay of the expected reward for diligence; no deferral of the fulfillment of the calling, the vision, the fervent hope.

If God has spoken to us, the promised enlargement will come in its time. Sometimes the fulfillment comes after the faithful servant has gone to be with the Lord. This makes no difference. The individual will see the blessing from his vantage point in the spirit world, and then receive the inheritance in the Day of Resurrection.

The longer I live the more convinced I am of the reality of the spirit world and of the people who inhabit it. When we die and our eyes are opened I think we are going to be amazed at how thin the line is that divides the physical world and the spirit world, and at the continual intervention of those from the spirit world who are permitted to be active on the earth.

So it does not matter when God fulfills His Word to us. Time is not the issue; neither is place. It is the substance of the promise that is important. And there is this about the Lord—He always keeps His Word!

Mighty promises.

Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. (Isaiah 54:2,3)

God has spoken to His elect. "Be prepared, the Lord says, for an enormous inheritance."

After we have spent years waiting on the Lord with minimal evidence of what He has promised us, we have to be careful we do not lose our faith, our hope, our joy. I wonder how many young Christians have had marvels prophesied over them, or to whom the Lord has spoken quietly in prayer or through the Words of the Scriptures.

But then nothing unusual takes place. Perhaps they marry, have children, work at some form of employment. The years go by. "I guess nothing is going to happen after all. I was sure at the time it was the Lord, but evidently not."

We must never, never, never take this attitude. We must pray every day as though we were the greatest apostle on the earth, and then not be moved when nothing unusual took place.

To be continued.