Waiting on a Promise

by Sarah Bently

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19, ESV)

God made me a promise ten years ago.

Only it wasn’t a promise back then. It was a calling.

“You will serve me in London. I am moving you there to build my kingdom.”

“Okay, sure Lord, I’ll go!”

Then, slowly the fear set in. “Who will go with me?” “What will I do?” “How?”

“Just focus on me.” Right. Okay. And so I did.

Over the years, he put the pieces together. He brought me a husband who wasn’t interested in missions. “Just focus on me.”

He told Ryan we were to go. We found GEM. We raised support. “Just focus on me.”

We hit 100%! We moved to the middle of England. But not London. “Just focus on me.”

My calling remained unfulfilled. And somewhere along the way, it turned into a promise. “God promised me I’d serve him in London.”

It became my husband’s promise too. We had two children. Moved three times to three different cities within England. But not London. “Just focus on me.”

We had opportunities to leave the mission field. We had tempting chances to serve amazing ministries that weren’t in London. We had people tell us to let it go, London wasn’t going to happen. We lost support. But we focused on him.

God kept his promise.

And in 2020, the four of us moved to London.

I used to think that the people in the Bible, like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and others were really patient. But I’ve come to realize, that actually, it wasn’t just patience. It was focus on God. Through all of the ups and downs, the choosing of steps and directions. “Just focus on me.”

Keeping focused not just on the promise, but on the eyes of the promise-maker, is what got us through. We are fickle. But God is steadfast. And my own story is proof of that.

In Christ,

Sarah Bentley

For Reflection:

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3, ESV)

1. What promise has God given you that he is reminding you not to let go of?
2. What part of your promise story are you in? The Beginning? Middle? End?
3. What does “focus on the promise-keeper” look like for this very next step?