The Covenant AlternativeSample

The Covenant Alternative

DAY 2 OF 7

Day 2: Don’t Settle For Less. 

Be patient with God, but don’t settle for less than He promised. Be content, but keep reaching out for the best. Don’t reduce what God promised you to what you think is possible. Don’t settle with that medical report, or that job, if you believe God can still turn things around. Dare to dream bigger. As Michelangelo once said, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

Abraham laughed at the promise of God, of him having a child, because he couldn’t see how that will be possible. But just because he can’t see a way doesn’t mean that God didn't' have His way. Just because you can’t yet see the resources for your dream, doesn’t mean you should abort it. Keep believing and don’t settle for just good enough. 

When God comes through on His promises for you, friends and families will say, "Who could have ever thought?" Your ‘Isaac’ is on the way. Don’t settle yet because you’ve had a little setback. If Ruth had settled back in Moab, she wouldn’t have met Boaz, who gave her a new beginning (Ruth 1). 

Don't settle for life 'alternatives' when God's promise is still on the way. The alternatives do not come with lasting peace, because if God is not in it, it brings friction and sorrow. Hence, Sarah had to send Ishmael away once Isaac was born. 

Ishmael went on to live a blessed life, and he may have brought temporary joy and relief to the family, but the Saviour would not be born from Ishmael’s lineage. It was through Isaac that God fulfilled the covenant He swore with Abram.

Remember, God is never too late in keeping His promises, but He’s never too early either. 

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About this Plan

The Covenant Alternative

While Abram waited for his promised child, an alternative to the covenant was born named Ishmael. Ishmael is a metaphor for things that 'anesthetize' us from the pain of waiting too long for God's promises. When God's promises seem far to reach, and our patience seems exhausted, how can we hold on to God's Word while we wait? What substitutes have you welcomed in place of God’s best?

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