I Promise

I have made you, I will carry you, I will sustain you and I will rescue you.  Isaiah 46:4

Have you ever made a promise you didn’t keep?  When a promise is broken it’s a lousy feeling no matter which end of the promise you’re on.  I can remember being in 5th grade and a friend of mine had just received a new cartoon/joke book and I wanted to read it so bad.  I promised to give him a dime if he would let me borrow it before everyone else that wanted to look at it got a chance.  He let me borrow it and I remember thinking how much more I would have enjoyed the book if I could have actually made good on my promise.  I knew good and well that I didn’t have any money to give him and I knew mom and dad wouldn’t have given me the money for such a silly thing.  A dime had great value and money was to be used for necessary things only.  I couldn’t even finish reading the book that night because I knew I’d have to explain to my friend the next day that I’d broken my promise and I felt too lousy to enjoy the book.  I don’t know why that story sticks with me to this day but every now and again it bubbles up in my mind.  When I saw this verse the memory of the broken promise sprung up and I realized how my weakness is one of his most amazing strengths.

We are a pretty stubborn and independent people sometimes aren’t we!  I forget the truth of this verse from the Prophet Isaiah…often!  I’m pretty good at trusting God when things are hard or crazy.  I’m pretty good at knowing he will rescue me but while reading this verse and considering what it promises something new occurred to me… probably something he’s been trying to tell me for years!  Here’s the revelation…HE MEANS ALL THE TIME!  I tend to think I can coast along and tend to the easy stuff saving his service for the tough stuff or for when I’m in over my head.  I think I honestly convince myself that when things are smooth I can handle it so he can assist someone who has a bigger need or a heavier cross to carry.  It’s almost as if I think I’m doing him a favor by not bugging him so much.  The problem with that is when I’m not depending on the truth of his promise I get the false sense that I’m in charge and that never ends well.

Everywhere I go I seem to hear the phrase, “work smarter not harder”.  Well duh…I think that’s exactly what this verse is saying.  Working smarter means completely living the truth of this verse…everyday…when things are great and when they’re not! If we really believe in these promises from our Loving Father, life just gets better and better.  He will never break a promise…ever.  If I look at the disappointments in my life I might be tempted to think God wasn’t there for me but the truth is those disappointments that felt like broken promises came at exactly those times when I was trying to take care of things myself and give him a break.  So…I think I get it now!  This one little verse spoken a few thousand years ago still has enormous truth and promise even today.  I think I’ll tape them somewhere important so I can read them again and again. I promise God, I’ll pay more attention to them!

A Seed To Plant: Join me in putting this powerful verse somewhere visible and pray with these words this week.

Blessings on your day!