According to the dictionary, a promise is “a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.” We all have made several promises to different people in our lives, and truth be told we haven’t always been able to keep those promises. In the Bible God made hundreds of promises to us, and He is always true to His promises, unlike us. We can believe in the promises of God, because the bible says in Numbers 23: 19, “Has God spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?” Also, in the book of Joshua 21:44, we are reminded that “Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.”
When someone makes a promise, there are three simple things we must always consider in order to determine whether or not we can hold this person to their promises: a) Their ability to keep the promise, b) Their willingness to do it, and c) Their history with promises. We serve a God who is both able (2 Timothy 1: 12) and willing (Matthew 1: 1 – 4). In Genesis 18: 9 – 15, when God made a solemn promise to Abraham that He will give them a son, Sarah laughed because she did not believe in God’s ability to keep that promise. The truth is, she had valid reasons to question God’s ability and willingness to keep that promise: Abraham and Sarah were old in age, and Sarah was barren. God responded with an emphatic rhetorical question: “Is anything too hard for the Lord? Thinking about this story, we can clearly see that Sarah was limiting God’s ability within the parameters of the laws of nature, but what is impossible with men is possible with God (Matthew 19: 26). Like Sarah, we too are human beings who need to be reminded that natural laws, human limitations and impotence cannot and will never limit God’s ability and willingness to keep his promises and respond to our needs.
More importantly, we also serve a God with a long history of making and keeping promises, not only in the Bible but also in our own lives. I believe if we take the time to count our blessings, write them down, we will realize that God has been true to His promises in our lives all along. Therefore, we can rest assured that God will continue to deliver on all his promises. However, we must understand that many of God’s promises are conditional. For example, in Psalm 91 we read that “If you make the Lord your refuge, God will send his angels to protect you – because you love God, He will rescue you – If you acknowledge His name, He will protect you.” These are just a few example in the 91st Psalm. Yes, God is able – Yes, God is willing – Yes, God has been true to his promises so far. However, we must make God our refuge, we must acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior, and we must Love God with all our hearts, minds, and strength. Let us keep on believing in the promises of God, and never waiver in our faith (Romans 4: 18 – 21). Let us keep on believing in the promises found in Psalm 91.
Grace, Peace and Love
Donny Pierre