The Forerunner’s Anointing

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:9-10)

Abraham arrived in the land of promise and lived in tents. He was in the right place, the land of promise, yet he lived as a stranger there. He never saw the fullness of that inheritance in his lifetime. Isaac and Jacob would continue to walk in the fullness of what Abraham's obedience made possible.

This is the reality of being a forerunner. If you are the first in your family to walk with God, if you are the one who breaks new ground and goes where others have not yet gone, you will pay a price that those who come after you will not have to pay. You take the hits, face the resistance, and live in the tension of being in the right place at the right time but not yet seeing the full picture. But look at what verse 10 tells us about Abraham's perspective.

He was looking for a city, not just a piece of land. He was looking for a city whose builder and maker was God. His eyes were not on what he was living in; they were on what God was using him to build. That kind of faith is not discouraged by tents because it is not focused on them. It is focused on the eternal, the unshakeable, and the thing God is constructing that no flood or enemy can touch.

Do not be discouraged if you are living in a season that feels like tents when you expected a palace. Isaac and Jacob stood on what Abraham had built for them. The generations behind you will stand on what you are building now. Understand that the price you are paying today has eternal returns, both for you and for every person who comes after you.

Practical Application

If you are in a tent season, in the right place but the promise has not yet fully materialized, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is being built through your faithfulness right now. Lift your eyes from the tent and set them on the city. Then keep going.

Hebrews 11:16; 2 Corinthians 5:1