the ultimate promise keeper
Last week something happened that caused me to feel very disappointed. I can't share the details with you other than to say it wasn't you that disappointed me. :) Nope, none of you. It was the outcome of a situation (that involved people I don't know) that was disappointing. Gut-wrenching disappointment.
The disappointment I felt drew my heart hungry to the Word and for the truth that my God will never disappoint me. He is trustworthy. He is faithful. He is the ultimate promise keeper.
"Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God that keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands." Deuteronomy 7:9 NLT
People will disappoint. Don't get me wrong here, k? I am not being cynical. Us humans, we simply aren't perfect. I will make promises I cannot keep even if I fully intend too. And people will break their promises to me. (Even politicians will break their promises!) But God won't. Ever. Never ever.
"The Lord always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does." Psalm 145:13b NLT
"God is not a man; so He does not lie. He is not human; so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?" Numbers 23:19 NLT
The thing is sometimes I have felt like God has let me down. What of those times then? If the Word is true (and um, yes, it is!) then what of those times? Those times when I have set flawed expectations? Those times when I have falsely interpreted His Word? Twisting and attempting to manipulate Him to better fit what I want?
God will not be manipulated. He cannot be changed.
"I am the LORD, and I do not change." Malachi 3:6 NLT
Yes, He has given us free-will, but ultimately He knows the outcome of, well, everything!, and His purpose will be accomplished.
"Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish." Isaiah 46:10 NLT
What if perhaps I have claimed promises from the Word that were intended for someone else?
Or promises that are conditional on my appropriate actions? And I haven't held up my end of the bargain?
What if my feelings have blurrrrrrrred my vision and distorted my circumstances? Or what of my faulty memory? What if I have all too quickly forgotten what God has already accomplished?
"You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate Your awesome power among the nations." Psalm 77:14 NLT
What of when certain promises are fulfilled in a spiritual way?
"For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 NLT
"But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 NLT
See what I mean? Spiritual fulfillment of His promises? And what of when certain promises are fulfilled through changes in me rather than in my circumstances?
And for me in my right now, in my waiting, I must be most careful to know His promises are not bound by my timeline. He is not limited to when I want things accomplished. He knows greater things are still to come through my current circumstances. Even if His timing is not within my lifetime, He is still faithful. He is still my promise keeper.
"All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it." Hebrews 11:13 NLT
"Not one of these people, even though their lives were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole; their lives of faith not complete apart from ours." Hebrews 11:39-40 MSG
"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." Ecclesiastics 3:11 NLT
God is keeping His promises, even now, in my waiting. There is immediate blessing, even here, in the delayed fulfillment. I will not be disappointed.
"He keeps His promises. On His terms. To His intended audience. By His methods, and in His time." Martin R. De Haan II
The disappointment I felt drew my heart hungry to the Word and for the truth that my God will never disappoint me. He is trustworthy. He is faithful. He is the ultimate promise keeper.
"Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God that keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands." Deuteronomy 7:9 NLT
People will disappoint. Don't get me wrong here, k? I am not being cynical. Us humans, we simply aren't perfect. I will make promises I cannot keep even if I fully intend too. And people will break their promises to me. (Even politicians will break their promises!) But God won't. Ever. Never ever.
"The Lord always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does." Psalm 145:13b NLT
"God is not a man; so He does not lie. He is not human; so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?" Numbers 23:19 NLT
The thing is sometimes I have felt like God has let me down. What of those times then? If the Word is true (and um, yes, it is!) then what of those times? Those times when I have set flawed expectations? Those times when I have falsely interpreted His Word? Twisting and attempting to manipulate Him to better fit what I want?
God will not be manipulated. He cannot be changed.
"I am the LORD, and I do not change." Malachi 3:6 NLT
Yes, He has given us free-will, but ultimately He knows the outcome of, well, everything!, and His purpose will be accomplished.
"Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish." Isaiah 46:10 NLT
What if perhaps I have claimed promises from the Word that were intended for someone else?
Or promises that are conditional on my appropriate actions? And I haven't held up my end of the bargain?
What if my feelings have blurrrrrrrred my vision and distorted my circumstances? Or what of my faulty memory? What if I have all too quickly forgotten what God has already accomplished?
"You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate Your awesome power among the nations." Psalm 77:14 NLT
What of when certain promises are fulfilled in a spiritual way?
"For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 NLT
"But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 NLT
See what I mean? Spiritual fulfillment of His promises? And what of when certain promises are fulfilled through changes in me rather than in my circumstances?
And for me in my right now, in my waiting, I must be most careful to know His promises are not bound by my timeline. He is not limited to when I want things accomplished. He knows greater things are still to come through my current circumstances. Even if His timing is not within my lifetime, He is still faithful. He is still my promise keeper.
"All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it." Hebrews 11:13 NLT
"Not one of these people, even though their lives were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole; their lives of faith not complete apart from ours." Hebrews 11:39-40 MSG
"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." Ecclesiastics 3:11 NLT
God is keeping His promises, even now, in my waiting. There is immediate blessing, even here, in the delayed fulfillment. I will not be disappointed.
"He keeps His promises. On His terms. To His intended audience. By His methods, and in His time." Martin R. De Haan II
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