A sampling of a few of the most popular types of images on the internet that are associated with "promises":
To be clear, I'm not talking about
the sources these images came from, or what the images were originally intended
for. I'm looking at these as examples of the things
that come to mind when we start talking about promises.
Things like making an agreement
with someone else, being hurt or disappointed over a broken promise, or keeping
a cheery perspective while holding out hope that God's promises are true.
I've known -and you probably have
too- people who refuse to make or accept promises for fear of disappointment,
as well as people who throw around promises like discount coupons.
Broken promises and agreements
can cause a lot of pain.
Of all those we want to trust and
put our hope in, the promises of God stand out. But sometimes, it doesn't feel like
God keeps His promises. Sometimes,
He seems as unreliable and sneaky as the people around us.
Scripture assures us this isn't the
case, for example:
"The Lord is not slow in
keeping his promise" -2 Peter 3:9
"I will not forget my
promises" -2 Chronicles 6:14
It seems that the promises we
tend to feel God isn't keeping are the promises He never made.
That's human. All too often, we add
to Scripture. We tack on clauses and develop formulas and make unspoken,
one-sided agreements with the Lord.
It's stuff like asking the Lord
with the expectation He'll give, but asking with the wrong intentions (James 4:3).
Or, the classic "Lord, if you___, then I will___."
You might not phrase it that way. I
don't always. For example, in working on a book recently, I was convicted that
to write from God's Word, I had to know God's Word. I read all the way through
Scripture for the first time. And when I finished His Word, I waited a
day...two days.
Then I got upset. The long-awaited,
lots-of-hard-work book was nowhere near finished. I did what He asked. I
finished His Word. Why wasn't He enabling me to finish my words?
I didn't start off my reading with
"Lord, I'm doing this for you, you do this for me." But somewhere, at
some point, in my heart, I determined that because He asked me to write and to
read, that He would fulfill it just as I was working hard to fulfill.
That's a promise God never made
to me. And it's a just a simple example.
Once a friend of mine swore off
dating for a year. Felt like God said not to. And when the year was up, my
friend was mad because within a few weeks, even months, God hadn't yet honored
the commitment by providing a significant other.
Do you do this?
It can be even subtler…
Like believing what Scripture says
about something specific -and applying it more broadly. Or taking what the Word
says broadly and applying it specifically to my situation. His Word can easily
be twisted, and often it is.
When we believe the distorted
Word of God, we are set up for disappointment. Our expectations are
skewed, and our priorities are too.
If God's word is contorted to say
that your happiness is God's goal, then you're going to feel at times, like
when you're sad or suffering, that God isn't living up to His promises. You're
going to place a wrongful priority on your happiness because, if that's what
God promised you, then you are entitled to it.
The promise of God to all people,
according to Scripture, is His son Jesus Christ. If you’re looking for God to
fulfill His promises, look no further –“it is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus
came, He died, He rose again, and He offers the free gift of grace and eternal
life.
In the earlier cited verse of
Chronicles 6:14, we read about God fulfilling His promise to David to keep his descendants
on the throne. Other promises in the Old Testament are similar in that they all
play a part in God keeping His word, the word he gave in the beginning when He
said that the offspring of woman would crush Satan.
2 Peter 3:9, also cited earlier,
says that the Lord isn’t slow in keeping His promise. What promise? The one
fulfilled in Christ. The one that continues to be fulfilled in Christ as the
Lord so patiently draws people to Himself, giving everyone a chance at eternal
life. In Revelation, we read all the more of how God has, is, and will keep His
promise.
He will restore the world. He will save His people. His
promise is good, it’s perfect, and it matters above all else.
That’s God’s priority. That is
what we can rest in and set our hope upon. Those that belong to the Lord will
spend eternity in His presence.
A lot of things won’t work out that
we think should. Plenty of feelings will be felt that we think shouldn’t be
necessary or serve no purpose. Our circumstances often won’t be what, by all
reasoning, we deserve.
But in the end, we’ll get what we don’t deserve: mercy and grace. We’ll be
made complete in Christ. Our feelings will be all to His glory. And all things
will have worked together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
That’s the promise of God. It is sufficient. Surely He is
faithful.
