The apostle Paul says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Any promise from God has its yes in Christ, and His promises stand firm. But Paul adds, “And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” God has already said yes, but He wants our response of “amen,” which means “so be it.” Our response to every promise that God has for us should be “Yes, God! I say yes to Your promise of healing, to Your promise of joy as my strength, to Your promise of abundance, to Your promise of favor and blessing. Everything I need is in Christ, and I’m sending a great big yes.”
I have a friend who told me that he had sensed God’s promise for a desire he had in his heart. He had prayed about it, been excited about the possibilities, and told some friends. But years went by, and nothing happened. He said, “The desire remained in my heart, so I kept coming to Him with my yes to the promise every morning. I kept praying, kept reading His Word, kept praising Him for how amazing He is.” My friend kept faithful, and in the process his faith and trust were growing. He added, “Victoria, the promise from God finally came to pass, and I was overwhelmed with joy. I realized that if it had come to pass sooner, I wouldn’t have been ready to handle it. I had some things that needed to be worked out in my life first. But now I was ready, and it’s so sweet.”
In Genesis 15, it says that when Abraham heard God’s promise of a son, even though he and Sarah were too old to have children, he answered with a simple yes to God. “He believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” That means that Abraham was made to be in right standing with God. He could come freely to God and partake of what God had for Him. That righteousness gave him access to the grace of God, which brought God’s promised son many years later. Abraham couldn’t have brought God’s promise to pass in his own strength and willpower.
I encourage you to always have a resounding yes ready for every promise that God gives you, because your yes invites the promise into your life. Keep speaking the amen to the amazing things God has for you. And don’t change your yes to a no because it’s taking a long time to happen. God’s delay is not His denial. It’s preparing you for what’s to come. God is working in you, and working something out of you, so you can take hold of the promises.