Promises can feel like empty words. I’ve been the giver of a few empty promises. It’s not something that I’m proud of, but it’s done and I have to live with it. It’s happened a few different ways- me not keeping my word. But most times, I really do mean well. I make a promise with all intentions of coming through… and then life happens.
In my walk with Christ, I’ve had to really accept that that’s all we get from God up front a lot of times: A promise. In the past, I’ve always feared that God would do like me and let “life” get in the way of Him keeping His promises to me. The thing about God is that He gives promises and then a few steps at a time of what we are supposed to do to get to the promise… He never really gives the whole picture, which can be frustrating. But the process is the process no matter how gruesome it can get.
When I look at my own story and how it is continuing to unfold, I see why God doesn't reveal the whole story. There were a lot of things that I’ve had to go through that were important to my growth, spiritually… but devastating to my heart and my emotions. Yes, I admit that along this journey my feelings have been hurt. HAHA! But had I known all of the pieces, I wouldn't have gone through with it... I would have avoided the pain and as a result, I wouldn't have experienced growth.
As I read the Bible, I notice how God always comes through with his promises! I love the book of Joshua. It deals with a young leader who is chosen to lead the Israelites into their promised land. I don’t have enough time to share the whole story (You should definitely read it when you get the chance!)
But basically it goes like this: God starts off the Journey in chapter one with this promise: “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5 NLT) From here, they go through battle after battle, Miracle after miracle, and victory after victory! And then In Chapter 7, they experience a loss. A devastating loss. So much so that Joshua says ““Oh, Sovereign lord, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side!’ (Joshua 7:6.) The Lord instructs Joshua on what to do, they get back on track and begin to win again. By Chapter 11, the Bible says that they “Finally had a rest from war.” As Joshua took control of the land. Just as was promised! (I’m stopping here. There’s more details and more chapters there… but, you know… I don’t have a lot of time this week to talk about the details. But! You should read it if you get time! It’s a great story)
What’s the whole point?! Not all Promises are empty words! Especially when they come from God! He can’t lie… so when he promises something, it pretty much has happened already. You just have to get past the “what” was promised and move to the “when.” God promised Joshua that no one would be able to stand against him and his army. God promised that He wouldn’t leave. And then… they started winning and experiencing miracles! They had a promise from God and He was making good on it. And then Chapter 7 happened… and they experienced a loss and it hurt! I feel like this is a lot of us! When we started out, we had this promise from God and at first, He was making good on it! Things were lining up! Everything was looking good… and then at some point, things changed and it started to feel like we were losing.
There’s a lot more to this story of Joshua, but I want to point out that they eventually got to where they were promised they would go! Once they dealt with the issue that caused the loss (this topic is a totally different W.U.W. Post. LOL!) , God began to deliver… again!
We have to remember that even when we Go though our period of “losing” (Whatever that looks like for you) the promise of God NEVER changes! We just have to seek God and adjust and grow and He will lead us into the "land"that He promised! He doesn't change. He can’t lie! What he promised is true and done.. .we just have to get to it!