The Promises of God

As I opened my Bible in the early morning hours, I was compelled to return to some of the passages we covered in our ladies study group.  In 1 Samuel chapter 1, we read about Hannah’s devotion to God and her prayer to conceive a son.  As Hannah pleaded, the passage says she “wept bitterly” as she vowed to dedicate the child to the Lord’s service all his days.  Eli the priest was near and heard her praying under her breath.  After sorting out whether she had been drinking, he gave her his blessing, declaring her prayer would be answered.  The scripture says that Hannah left and “her face was no longer sad.”  She later conceived, gave birth to Samuel, and made good on her promise to God.

My goal for my reading that morning was to read Hannah’s prayer of the dedication of Samuel in chapter 2.  But I could just not get there.  I could only think about God’s promises.  I could only think about God’s promises to me.

What promise of God are you waiting for to be fulfilled?  Have you heard from God Himself regarding a situation in your life, where He said your petition would be granted?   Are you still waiting and wondering if you heard him right or if He changed His mind?

So I began to search my mind and heart to recall that one big promise I had waited for, that I still wait for.  The one seemingly unfulfilled promise that makes my heart sad, that makes my face sad, distressed, to the point of bitter weeping.  Have you ever wept bitterly?  As I reflected and searched my memory, I could not think of even one.

I remembered times when I begged for the Lord’s intervention.  I remembered the sheer terror I felt when I knew I would have to face life without the use of alcohol and drugs. As I struggled through the beginning stages of withdrawal, detoxifying at home, I begged a God I had not yet known to just let me sleep for an hour.  The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a chair, somewhat rested, peaceful.

I remembered a time some years later, weeping bitterly before the Lord, begging Him to prove His love by giving me a child after months and even years of no success.  Though I surely heard from Him, it wasn’t a promise, but a conviction.  At the time, I had already been blessed with a beautiful son, who by this time was a thriving, lively, healthy 4-year-old.  The soft voice of God rung loudly through my bitterness,  “If you would only put all that love and energy into the child I already gave you, instead of the one you do not have, maybe you will know my love.”  A month later I had conceived.

I remembered His presence as I stood frozen in fear, in the corner of my stick framed house, knowing I would have to come face to face with the horror of my broken past.  Unable to move I once again, wept bitterly, crying out, “No.  I would rather die right here, than to face that!”  I heard His audible voice, “Wait”  With a long pause.”Wait upon Me.”  I knew the reference, but that day, I began to live it.

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31 (KJV).

Sobbing uncontrollably, I prayed, “Why now Lord?”  Again I heard His tender whisper, “Then when?” It was the only time I can recall asking, “Why me?”  Again He answered, “Then who,”?  A peace came over me like I had never known before, crying out in agreement, “Okay Lord….okay.”

I remembered many years later, upon a diagnosis and years of destruction caused by  Rheumatoid Arthritis, Degenerative Disk Disease, and Scoliosis which was directly caused by disease, once again calling to Him, “Please remove this from me.”  His answer was clear.

⁷ …because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Cor. 12:7-10 (NIV)

As I contemplated the many promises in the scriptures, I couldn’t remember a single time that He had promised to grant me a favor and give me whatever I asked; a child, a nation, the possession of a vast land, or even a corner lot in a tiny little town.  But rather, the old Lynn Anderson song, ‘Rose Garden’ comes to mind.  “I Beg Your Pardon (I never promised you a rose garden)” now rings gently through my mind.

The fact is, in my life, there is not one unmet promise of God.  In Job 42:2, my promise was that “no plan of [God’s] would be thwarted, but rather as in Joel 2:25, “[He] will restore to [me] the years the locust have eaten.”  In Isaiah 40:31, He promised that I would be given renewed strength.  He has promised to be with me in times of calamity, to comfort me in times of grief, to give me His strength when I am weak.   I memorized John 3:16 while attending a girls youth club I had been invited to as a teenager.  There, I am given the only promise that I am waiting for to be fulfilled, eternal life with Him.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Though it is already mine, I’m told in John 19:30 “When Jesus had tasted it, he said, ‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”  The timing of its fulfillment for me is only known to God.  So I wait, in faith, in hope, in peace.