I Promise...

“So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45).

Have you ever been the victim of a broken promise? Or have you ever been the promise-breaker? If you have lived for any length of time at all, you can answer “yes” to at least one, and probably both, of those questions. We live in a world that is littered with the debris of promises that were not kept. It’s so commonplace that we have almost come to expect it. The current political climate is a case in point. Candidates of every political stripe make extravagant promises to get elected and then seldom keep those promises. And, worse yet, we accept such antics as business as usual. We even joke about it: “Do you know how to tell if a politician is lying? Look to see if his lips are moving.” Now, are all politicians liars and intentionally deceptive? Of course not. But it happens often enough to make us cynical to the point of joking about such important matters. How sad!

Perhaps it is our experiences in this world that make it difficult to trust in God’s promises. We find it hard to believe when we read: “Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” We instinctively begin to look for loopholes. We prepare ourselves for the eventually let-down. But it doesn’t come! God is completely faithful to every promise He makes! “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

God loves you!
Mike