God Will Keep His Promises

Life is full of unexpected events. Some are pleasant, and some are stressful. Recently we had what could’ve been a stressful event turn into an opportunity to spend more time with family. After visiting my mother, the alternator quit working on our vehicle. Fortunately we were only about 15 miles from her house when we became stranded so she was able to come and pick us up and the boys got to spend another night at grandma’s until we could get the new part the next morning.
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It really wasn’t that stressful because it was an easy fix in a place close to help from family. Even if mom had not been there, Dad’s cousin lived just a few miles from where our vehicle stopped. It’s not so bad having car trouble three miles from nowhere if you know people in nowhere.
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I did however feel bad because we had told the boys that when we got to the next town, we would stop at McDonald’s and treat them to a yogurt parfait. Because of the vehicle breakdown we were not able to give them their yogurt and there is no McDonalds’s in nowhere.
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As humans we might make promises that we have every intent of keeping, but because of situations that are out of our control, we are not able to follow through. For example you might promise to fly out to spend Christmas with a loved one who is far away, but if all the flights are cancelled because of a snow storm, there is nothing you could do even if you wanted to.
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Fortunately we do not have to worry about that when God is the one making the promises. Not only will God keep His word, but He is so powerful that nothing can stop Him from keeping His word. In Isaiah 55:11-12 the Lord tells us, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
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The Isaiah passage about God’s wonderful promise comes in the context of the promise of Christ’s coming. This whole plan of salvation for mankind through Jesus Christ is not something God just came up with at the last minute because He figured He could pull it off, it was something He had planned and promised all along. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9)
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God has made a wonderful promise concerning salvation for those who believe and He will follow through on that promise as we believe in Christ’s payment for our sins by faith. James 2:5 says, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”
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His promises do not just include salvation though. They also include his warnings of judgment. “I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 24:14)
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Though men do not always follow through on their promises, God does. With that in mind, understand that His promises include both judgment and blessing. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)