Keeping promises

Genesis 15; Nehemiah 4; Matthew 14; Acts 14

When intensely praying for someone in our family who is far from faith and whose lifestyle shows it, God interrupted me and clearly said, “She is mine.”

I was startled, tried to pray again. Again, He stopped me with this unexpected but incredible promise, “She is mine.” It was not verbal, but a clear impression in my mind. I was surprised more by the content than by hearing Him speak.

It should not have been a shock. God is into doing that sort of thing, not often yet He has a history of making promises to do what looks impossible to the person hearing it. For instance,

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:1–5)

The very next verse is well known and often quoted. It says: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

God’s promises are many. Some are like this one — made to a person and later fulfilled. Some are to His people and are usually conditional. Others are for anyone who believes Him.

In Nehemiah’s case, God gave him the task of rebuilding the crumbled wall around Jerusalem. This means this task should and would be done, like a promise, only it was not without a great deal of opposition and struggle. I rather suspect that this will be true concerning our family member. We will pray for her and battle spiritual enemies as God takes claim of her soul and redeems her from her entrapment.

Walking with Jesus is not automatic success either. John the Baptist believed but was beheaded (Matthew 14:1-12). However, it has its high points. The disciples had five loaves and two fish for a crowd of at least 5000 and Jesus multiplied that little bit to feed all of them. They wound up with leftovers (Matthew 14:13-21). After that, He walked on water and Peter joined Him, at least for a little while until the wind and waves overwhelmed his faith (Matthew 14:22-33). Yet in these incidents, His disciples were able to say, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (14:33)

Later after Jesus had been crucified, resurrected and ascended to heaven, the disciples faced both opposition and victories as they trusted the promises of God and did as He asked them to do. They shared the Gospel; some believed and some tried to kill them. They healed the sick; some praised God and others praised them, thinking they were gods like Zeus and Hermes. They pressed on, not relying on results as their motivation but on the Word of the Lord. (Acts 14)

This both comforts and convicts me. My mother had this written in her Bible: “God says it. I believe it. That settles it.” Sometimes this is easy but sometimes my faith takes a nosedive when I see that my prayers are not quickly answered or there is no evidence at all of God working according to His promises.

Abraham needed to hear several times the promise of God concerning his heir. When he didn’t see anything happening, he did what so many of us do — he took matters into his own hands and threw a large monkey wrench into the plan. That is also a lesson for me. God might say it and I might believe it, but if His timetable does not match mine, or if I see no progress toward the goal, I can get anxious, even pushy when patience is required. I know better; patience is produced by God through the Holy Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

So believing like Abraham, working like Nehemiah, and walking with Jesus requires His grace and the fullness of His Spirit. My part? Just ask: Lord, fill me today that I might live by Your promises.