I Promise

“Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.” Joshua 21:45 NLT

How many times have you spoken the words “I promise” only to break your promise. It may have been unintentional or deliberate, in either case you broke your promise, and someone got hurt. Most of us have felt the effects of broken promises, and again most of us have at one time hurt someone from lack of commitment to keep that promise. Marriage vows are being altered today to lessen the sting of a broken promise by making them conditional. Making it easier doesn’t justify breaking promises. We are fallen creatures, prone to fail by breaking promises, but can learn a great deal from our Lord God who never breaks any of His promises to us.

Near the end of Joshua’s life as Israel was settled in the Promised Land, we find these words from the book of Joshua, “Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.”  (Jos.21:45 nlt) God promised Abraham seven hundred years earlier, “And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” (Gen.17:8 nlt) God fulfilled His promise.

Many of God’s promises are recorded in the pages of scripture, most of them for our benefit. We are promised comfort in our afflictions, “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Mt.5:4 nlt) God will restore us in our weakest spiritual condition, “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.” (Is.42:3a nlt) The apostle Paul assures us God supplies all our needs, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ph.4:19 nlt) He promises never to leave us, “For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’” (Heb.13:5b nlt) Jesus, God the Son, promises to come back for us, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (Jn.14:3 nlt) And the best promise of all, the saving promise is, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn.3:16 nlt)

Unfortunately, we will come into some disappointment in our lives by broken promises. But we can be certain that God never breaks any of His promises, His love for us, His protection, His on-going presence, His promise of salvation for all who believe, and His promise to return. When our Lord says, “I promise”, He keeps it!