by Matthew Ross
The dictionary has several definitions for the word “promise,” but the one that caught my attention was: “a reason to expect that something will happen in the future.” We are surrounded by promises of one degree or another. You might not call it a promise when you see an advertisement saying that you can save money on your car insurance, but it does carry the implication that you should expect it to happen if you switch to that company. If you reflect on the previous week, I am sure that you can come up with a few instances in which you hinted (or outright promised) that something would happen. While a great many promises are kept, it never feels good when you’re on the end of a broken or forgotten promise.
Unfortunately, we do not limit our expectations of broken or forgotten promises to one another; we often transfer those expectations to God. Even though we know that we can count on God and that he never fails us and will never leave us, at some point or another, we wonder if God will keep the promise that he made so long ago. In the story of Abraham, we see this very thing play out. God promises to bless Abraham even though he is childless and older in age. Abraham believes him, but as time goes on, Abraham begins to wonder if God has forgotten his promise or if something has happened that is now preventing God from doing what he said he would do. Rather than live in doubt, Abraham does what you have probably done. He asks God how he can know if God will still fulfill the promise.
After bringing the sacrifice that God requests, and after fighting to keep the buzzards away from it to the point of exhaustion, Abraham falls asleep and is given his answer. While you probably will not be asked to bring the same kind of sacrifice, one thing is true. There will come times when you have to fight to keep your sacrifice pure before God. This week, I encourage you to search your heart and ask yourself if you have given up defending your sacrifice to God. If so, commit this verse to memory and think of it every time you feel like God has forgotten his promise to you. “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears” (Philippians 1:6, The Message).
