Does this inspire your confidence?

Today's reading that I am encouraged to focus on comes from the book of Hebrews. I know its a block qoute, but its a powerful one:

Hebrews 6:13-20 (New International Version)

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. (taken from biblegateway.com)

When I read this I was struck by two things, the first being mainly the confidence of God in swearing on Himself. Like Paul pointed out, He did this to really bind Himself to His promise and prove that He was faithful, divine, and trustworthy because it is impossible for Him to lie and there can be no one greater than himself to swear by. Also in that covenant that he made with Abraham, He walked between the remains of animals that had been cut in half, between each side. As I've heard it preached, the significance of this is that He was saying that if He did not fulfill his promise, let it be done to Him what had been done to these animals. While the concept of God dying might be a little hard to reason out, let us not forget about Jesus' sacrifice to redeem us. To which Paul calls it a hope which is "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" .

So God puts His very existence, His life, power and honor into this covenant with Abraham and all he had to do was wait: "And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised."
At times I feel like I don't even know what was promised me, and waiting can get aggravating. Just look at the fact that Abraham and Sarah were so eager to have a child, that Sarah bade him to sleep with her handmaiden, giving birth to a child (Ishmael) that was not of God's promise. This lead to enmity between the descendants of Ishmael, and the descendants of Isaac, the promised son. It also paints a heartbreaking scene in the bible where Abraham leaves Ishmael to die, a scene where God intervenes to prevent that from happening.
So we see, when God enters into a covenant with us, He puts most of the weight upon him, but that does not mean our part, and our actions become negligible. Sarah's impatience and Abraham's acquiescence to that has lead to what many feel is the root of the conflict in the Middle East right now. But that aside, I say this not to discourage myself or others, but to remind us how important a covenant is, and how worthwhile it is to wait on God. In whatever is before you today, do not be aggravated by its proceeding or time - pray for peace in those matters. Remember that you have a hope, made accessible by Jesus, into intimacy with God who wants the best for you and has promised you many things within this covenant. I am waiting on things that I believe God has in store for me, but in the meantime, it would be a good exercise to go through scripture and see what God has promised us already and let us see if we can see the fruit of that in our lives.

God bless you!