This blog is based on a message by Pastor Todd Cosenza.
Most people are believing God for something.
For some, it is something big. For others, it is something small. For many, it is something that sits somewhere in between. Maybe it is a promise you found in Scripture. Maybe it is something the Lord spoke clearly to your heart. Maybe it is a word you have been carrying for years.
The challenge is usually not receiving the promise. The challenge is living in the space between the promise and the fulfillment.
That in-between season can feel tight. It can feel uncomfortable. It can feel like being pressed between a rock and a hard place. And while that place can grow real faith, it also brings real temptation. The temptation is to step in front of God and make the promise happen ourselves.
That is where the warning comes in.
Do not get ahead of God.
What it looks like to get ahead of God
A simple picture helps here.
Imagine water skiing behind a boat. As long as the boat is pulling you, you have momentum, direction, and support. But the moment you try to swing around and get in front of the boat, the whole thing falls apart. You may feel fast for a second, but once you are no longer being pulled by what was carrying you, you lose momentum and drop.
That is exactly what happens spiritually when we try to get out ahead of the Lord.
God is the one who gives strength, direction, timing, and grace. When we move ahead of him, we are no longer moving with his pull. We are moving on borrowed momentum, and it never lasts.
The answer is not to force things. The answer is to trust him, stay with him, and let him bring his word to pass in his time.
Abraham, Sarah, and the danger of helping God
Galatians 4:21-23 points back to Abraham and Sarah and uses their story to teach a powerful spiritual lesson. Abraham had two sons. One was born through the slave woman, Hagar. The other was born through Sarah, the free woman. One birth came through human effort. The other came through divine promise.
Abraham and Sarah had received a promise from God. They wanted a son, and God told them not only that they would have one, but that many descendants would come through them. It was an incredible word.
Then came the waiting.
Time passed. Nothing seemed to happen. And in that delay, they started to doubt. Sarah decided they should help God along by using Hagar to produce the child they were waiting for.
That decision produced Ishmael. But Galatians makes the point plain. What is born through mere human effort is not the same as what is born through the promise of God.
Whenever people say, “We are going to help God,” that should set off alarms. God does not need our help to fulfill what he promised. He is fully capable of doing what he said.
What happens when we get ahead of God
1. We end up in slavery
Galatians 4 connects Hagar with slavery, and the principle still applies.
Whatever we produce in our own strength, we must sustain in our own strength.
That is exhausting. It creates pressure. It makes us servants of the very thing we thought would bless us.
But what God produces, God also sustains.
That is a huge difference. The Lord does not want his people trapped by what they chased outside his timing. He wants to give blessings that come with his backing, his grace, and his sustaining power.
This matters in every area of life. Relationships. Ministry. Finances. Opportunities. Even church growth and buildings. A thing may be available and affordable, but that does not automatically mean it is from God. If it is not his choice, it can become a burden instead of a blessing.
2. We invite pain
Galatians 4:24-25 says Hagar corresponds to Mount Sinai. Sinai is where the law was given through Moses, and it was a fearful place. The mountain was wrapped in darkness and awe, and the people were afraid to draw near.
Even the name Sinai carries the idea of a thorn bush.
That image matters because thorns throughout Scripture point to pain. If you grab a thorn bush with bare hands, you learn fast that pain is built into it. In the same way, when we reach for things outside God’s timing, pain comes with the package.
The Psalms teaches that the Lord’s blessing enriches without adding sorrow. Another way to understand that is this: God’s blessing does not come wrapped in pain.
When we try to bless ourselves, though, pain often follows. Striving follows. Regret follows. God has something better than that for his people.
3. We become resentful
Galatians 4:28-29 says that believers are children of promise like Isaac, and it also notes that the son born according to the flesh opposed the son born through the Spirit.
That happened in Abraham’s family. Ishmael grew resentful toward Isaac. Bitterness took root.
That same thing can happen in the heart when we get ahead of God. First comes striving. Then pain. Then frustration. Before long, the questions start piling up:
- Why do other people seem blessed?
- Why is nothing working for me?
- What is wrong with my life?
But the issue is not that God failed. The issue is that we stepped in front of him and tried to manufacture what only he could bring forth rightly.
There is no joyful ending to a life of spiritual impatience. Getting ahead of God leads to slavery, pain, and resentment.
The contrast in Galatians 4
Galatians 4:26 says that the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Paul contrasts the present earthly Jerusalem, which he describes as in slavery, with the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free.
The message is simple and strong.
In Christ, we are born into freedom.
This is not just abstract theology. This is deeply practical. The warning not to get ahead of God is really a warning to protect your freedom. Jesus died to bring freedom, not bondage. So anything that pulls you back into slavery, even if it looks spiritual on the surface, should be treated with caution.
The answer is not to force fulfillment. The answer is to remain in the freedom Christ has given.
Have eyes of faith while you wait
Galatians 4:27 speaks to the barren woman and calls her to rejoice because increase is coming. That is the language of faith.
Even when the promise is not visible yet, faith sees beyond the present moment. Faith does not deny reality, but it refuses to be limited by it.
If you feel barren in some area of life, do not let that define your future. See yourself through the promise of God. Hold the word he gave you. Trust his power more than your timeline.
Because if you try to fulfill the promise in the flesh, you may produce something, but it will not be Isaac. It will be Ishmael.
What happens when we stay with God
1. We keep our freedom
If you are in that awkward season of waiting, remember this: even before the promise arrives, you already possess something precious.
You have freedom.
Do not trade that freedom for a rushed solution. Do not barter away peace just to feel like something is finally moving. Stay with God. Let him set the pace.
If he slows down, slow down with him. If he moves forward, move with him. But do not step in front.
Freedom is too valuable to exchange for something God never told you to create.
2. We enjoy his pleasure
When we stay with God, we move out of pain and into pleasure. Not the shallow kind of pleasure the world chases, but the goodness that comes from being in step with the Lord.
God gives good things to enjoy. His heart is not to burden his children with endless sorrow. His plan is full of life, goodness, favor, and joy.
And here is the beautiful part. You do not need the immediate appearance of the answer to experience his goodness right now. The Lord himself is enough. His presence is enough. His fellowship is enough.
You can live in his pleasure even while you are still waiting on the promise.
3. Our hearts fill with thankfulness
When we remain with the Lord instead of racing ahead, resentment loses its grip and gratitude begins to grow.
Thankfulness changes the atmosphere of waiting. Instead of saying, “Why has this not happened yet?” the heart begins to say, “Lord, you have already been so good to me.”
Gratitude remembers his faithfulness. Gratitude notices his provision. Gratitude keeps the heart soft.
And a thankful heart can wait a lot longer than a bitter one.
Why some promises take time
Sometimes the wait is short. Sometimes it stretches for years.
Abraham and Sarah waited around twenty years. Long seasons of waiting are not proof that God has forgotten. They often mean that God is preparing something substantial.
The longer the setup, the greater the wisdom behind it.
There are moments when God brings something suddenly. But there are also times when he chooses to grow what he promised. And growth takes time.
The seed, the farmer, and the promise
One of the most helpful ways to understand waiting is to think like a farmer.
When you ask God for something and he says yes, it is not always because he is about to drop the finished answer into your lap that same day. Sometimes his yes means he has planted a seed.
That seed goes into the ground, and then the process begins.
You continue in faith. You continue in patience. You continue in worship, thanksgiving, trust, and obedience. You keep bringing the matter before the Lord. And while you are doing your part, God is doing what only he can do.
James uses the picture of the farmer for a reason. Farmers understand that after seed is planted, there is a season of waiting. They do not dig it up every other day to see if it is working. They know that if they remain faithful, the crop will come.
The same is true with the promises of God.
- Receive the promise.
- Let God plant the seed.
- Water it with faithfulness and thanksgiving.
- Be patient while God causes the growth.
The laws that make the seed grow belong to him. As long as we stay in step with him, fruit will come in due time.
Whatever we ask, we receive from him
There is real confidence available in the waiting season because Scripture promises that when we ask and walk in obedience before God, we receive from him. The Lord is not careless with his words. He is faithful. He is true. He does not lie.
If he made the promise, he intends to fulfill it.
He wants to bring it to pass even more than you want to hold it in your hands. The call is not to force it. The call is to trust him until the manifestation comes.
A simple prayer for the waiting season
If you have gotten ahead of God before, you are not alone. Many people have. The right response is not shame. It is repentance and renewed trust.
A good prayer sounds like this:
Lord, forgive me for the times I tried to run ahead of you. I trust your goodness. I trust your timing. I do not want slavery, pain, or resentment. Teach me contentment in you while I wait for what you have promised.
That kind of posture protects the heart and keeps you in peace.
Hold on to this
Do not get ahead of God.
Stay out of slavery. Stay out of pain. Stay out of resentment.
Stay in freedom. Stay in pleasure. Stay in thankfulness.
Let the Lord lead. Let the seed grow. Let faith do its work.
What he promised, he is able to perform.
Application questions
- What promise or prayer request am I most tempted to force instead of trust God with?
- Have I created anything in my own strength that I am now struggling to sustain?
- Is my waiting season producing gratitude in me, or has it started to produce resentment?
- What would it look like for me to practice contentment in the Lord right now?
- How can I water the seed God has planted through faith, thanksgiving, and patience this week?
