Encouragement in a Dysfunctional World

People make promises but often fail to fulfill them. Sometimes people change their minds about the promises they’ve made, or lie about them, or even forget they made a promise at all. Other times, promises are broken because of human limitations or unforeseen circumstances. There are many reasons people cannot always be depended upon to keep their promises.

But when God makes a promise, He always fulfills it. Because He is not limited in any way, God cannot fail to do what He has promised. He does not lie or forget what He has said. So it doesn’t matter how impossible it may seem for God’s promise to be fulfilled; it will come to pass because God has said so.

One example of this is when God promised that Abraham and Sarah would have a child together (Genesis 17-18). Although Abraham and Sarah were very old and, naturally speaking, it was impossible for them to have a baby, that didn’t stop God from keeping His promise. Sarah gave birth to Isaac at just the time God said she would (Genesis 21:1-3).

God gives us promises through His Word, and we see many of these fulfilled in Jesus. In the Old Testament, God promised to send a Messiah to save us. Jesus is that Messiah. Because God loves us, He came and willingly died for us, and then He rose from the dead three days later, just like He said He would (Matthew 28:6). We can rely on Jesus to do what He says He’ll do. As Christians, we can know He will be with us through the Holy Spirit, and He will return one day to judge the world justly, raise us from the dead, and restore creation!

As we wait for Jesus to return, we can rely on God’s promise in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.†And the Holy Spirit helps us believe what God says, hold on to His promises, and wait for their fulfillment. God is dependable. When the winds of unbelief and the waves of doubt come, God will still keep His powerful and precious promises to us. • Enid Adah Nyinomujuni

• How are God’s promises different from people’s promises?

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19 (NLT)

Read Verses:

1Thess.5.5-1Thess.5.11