By Emilie Gruben
“I promise that I’ll always love you.” “I promise, we’ll get that toy later, but not today.” “You’ll do better next time, if you study. I promise.” “Promise me that you’ll be okay.”
“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep.”
The Oxford dictionary defines a promise as “a declaration that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.” A promise is the action and assurance that someone will definitely do, give, arrange, or undertake something in order to achieve or experience it.
Promises. Some give us hope for a fun occasion occuring the next day, and some promises give us a pledge of friendship to the death, or a chance to make up for a mistake. These promises are heavy. Some are light. But all give us a reason to look forward to something. Or never have to think about something, again.
Growing up, I was always told by my parents and those in authority to never keep secrets. If it was a serious matter that didn’t need to be told to a certain group of people, then you just didn’t tell others. You didn’t promise people that you wouldn’t tell another party. That was only a practice for harm and deceit. Those types of “promises” don’t count as a promise, in my book. Promises are meant to be a positive thing, in my eyes. Even if it’s keeping a negative away.
I was also told not to lie. As secrets lead to deceit, an outright lie can’t be far behind. Lying that you will do something, achieve something, or guarantee with no real knowledge of the outcome is what often becomes the reality of a promise. Nothing is ever 100% certain that it will go right or even happen at all. Promising that you will go see a movie with a friend doesn’t mean it will happen. Empty promises are made every day. A promise means nothing if you say them with no intention of doing what you say, or even thinking about the consequences if you don’t follow through.
My mother and father have always promised to love me even when I am undeserving of love. That can be a promise that can be kept, but never be achievable, realistically.That’s the problem with promises in our world. It’s a fallen state of humanity and life, constantly plagued by lies and shortcomings. The only promise we can truly trust in forever, is that of Heaven awaiting us.
We are strengthened by verses in the Bible that offer us hope. They give us true promises. Promises of hope and peace; strength. Isa. 41:10 says “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous hand.”
These promises are often overlooked. We think if unkeepable promises, and selfish reasons. We forget the greatest promises in all history. Possibly the only promises that haven’t been broken in our own lives. Nothing will be perfect in the world, my friend. Nothing. And for that reason, I don’t think promises are “good.” Their breaking is almost certainly unavoidable. They set those who have been promised and those who made the promise, both, up for disappointment, failures, shortcoming…
But we can’t help that. Can we? We can do our best. God commands us to do all things for His glory, to upkeep our word and not lie. Deutormony 24:6 says “No man shall take the lower or the upper milestone in a pledge, for he takes one’s living in pledge.”
We are commanded not to take the easy route, or end up not trying at all. We are to do all that we can to further the Kingdom of God. That means that we keep promises. We make promises, intending to keep them and honor the reason to our best ability. We will fall short. We will be tested in our faith to the promise, but for God and goodness-we continue on, steadfast.
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son” (Hebrews 11:17.) Abraham held a promise with God. To the taking of Isaac’s life, he kept his promises. It didn’t matter how horrific it seemed, when God asked. Abraham answered. I hope our faith can be like that.
I said that I don’t think promises are a good thing. Worldly promises. Promises rooted in selfish ambition and stood upon faulty reason. Those will not last, and hold no honor. But promises made before God in respect and honor? Those promises are real. In a fallen world, they may fall short, as well. But God’s mercy cleanses us. My friend, we have so many things promised to us in the Word. God never lies. He is incapable of doing so. That in itself is a promise. A promise that He will never let us down.
We can’t let the broken promises of this world stop us from recognizing and making them. “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filth I was of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear”- II Cor. 7:1
Post a Comment