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Promises. People make them all the time. Unfortunately for us, not everyone keeps their promises all of the time. And I would like to say that the majority of the time when people don’t keep their promises, it is usually for a very good reason.
I know that I’ve made many promises in my life, and I do my best to uphold them. True enough, I forget sometimes, but it is my intention to uphold all of my promises. Recently in fact, God has placed this heavy on my heart. If keeping promises is so important to Him that He will never let us down, and if we are called to be like Him, how can we not keep our promises?
I have made a promise several years ago, and over the years I have faithfully upheld that promise. I have never once forgotten to do what I have promised to do. However, about a week before every time I am supposed to do this certain thing, I receive a message of concern that I might forget to do what I promised to do.
I don’t know about you, but this makes me feel very bad. It makes me think that the ones I have faithfully been keeping my promise towards don't have confidence in me…
When this happened yet another time a few weeks go, I could feel my ire rising yet again as it always does. I called it out and renounced it in the name of Jesus, but once again, I was left with a feeling of deep disappointment… The ones I had faithfully been helping for the past several years still didn't trust me…
God didn’t leave me there for long, however. I instantly was reminded of all the times I’ve failed to trust Him, despite Him keeping all His promises to me, despite His repeated faithfulness, His unfailing love that I have experienced so often.
It made me wonder: How does God feel when we fail to trust … Him? I mean, as a human being, I am prone to forget… but God never forgets! “For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 1:20 NRSV). How it must hurt Him when we fail to trust Him! How His heart must ache, after all the billions of blessings He faithfully gives us every minute of every day.
Then I remembered my first reaction every time this happens…I tend to get mad…
Does our lack of faith raise God’s holy anger?
I would like to say “yes it does”. We know that it was Israel’s repeated lack of faith in their faithful God that caused them to have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years instead of entering into their Canaan rest (“none of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it.” Numbers 14:23 NRSV). We also know that it was Israel’s repeated lack of faith and disobedience that eventually led to the Babylonian captivity. So yes, I believe that God does get angry when we fail to trust Him!
This incident has made me come to some decisions: First of all, I will no longer get angry when my faithfulness to my promises is doubted. Secondly, I vow, by the grace of God, to try to please Him by trusting Him in all situations!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Associate Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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