I recently started a series on the Promises of God with our women's small group Bible study. A dear friend of mine is not able to attend; but she would like to follow along with us so I told her I would post our studies here. I will probably not post all of the information from each session at once (we meet twice a month), but will probably split it up and post weekly.
This series started after a very simple question was asked in our adult Sunday School class last month. We were asked, "What are some of the promises of God to which you hold fast?" It was a simple question for which I should have had a ready and simple answer. But I didn't. I froze. I couldn't think of a single promise of God. I could have given a generic answer and communicated some general promises of God, but I blanked on being able to give Scriptural evidence for the promises that God has given to me.
I experienced a mixture of feelings and emotions--embarrassment, failure, shame, frustration, and ignorance, to name a few. The good thing is that:
1) it was humbling (always a good thing), and;
2) it spurred me on to want to look closely and purposefully at the promises of God.
I know what I believe and why I believe it. I can give an answer for the hope that is within me, but I also want to be able to know and name the promises that God has given to me and to understand their purposes in my life.
So, here are the thoughts from our introductory look at God's promises.
First, we discussed what promises in general do for us. We make promises all the time and people make promises to us. We don't always use the word "promise", but we do imply a commitment in a number of ways.
* We promise our boss that we will work certain hours and accomplish certain goals.
* Our boss promises to pay us.
* I promise my family that I will do their laundry.
* My husband promises that he will be employed and will care for our financial needs.
* My son promised his sister that he would pick her up after her drama practice.
* My husband and I promised to love each other and remain faithful and united for our entire life.
* We promise to take care of our minor children.
* We promise to meet a friend at a certain time and place for coffee.
These are some common "promises" that represent those that we all give and receive. What do they do for us? We realized that, when someone has made a promise, it frees us from anxiety and allows us to be useful or productive in doing what is before us. If my daughter knows she has a ride home after drama she spends her rehearsal time focused on her role and doesn't spend her energy trying to find a ride, worrying about how she will get home.
Because my husband has promised to care for our financial needs I am not worrying about whether or not a check will bounce, or how I am going to get money for groceries.
Some promises are conditional. I promise to do the laundry IF my children put their dirty clothes in the laundry baskets. The boss promises to pay you IF you fulfill your promise to work certain hours and accomplish certain goals.
Some promises are unconditional. Our promise to care for our minor children is not conditional on what they do or how much we "like" them. How we care for them may vary depending on their individual needs, but they have (and will) all receive food, shelter, clothing, health care, and our love.
Promises are comforting and freeing, when they come from a reliable source. (We did not deal with broken promises because we begin with the premise that God is reliable, trustworthy, and able. We do not always understand his ways and timing, but we can trust his word. At a later date we will talk about whether that reliability can be challenged.)
Promises kept cause us to trust the one keeping the promise. The more consistent and reliable the person is in keeping the promises, the greater our comfort and trust in that person.
So, now consider the promises of God. They, too, are conditional and unconditional. The promises that we find in the Bible are also directed to different people. In other words, not every promise recorded in Scripture is meant for every person. My daughter's friend at drama practice can not expect to just hop in my son's car and get a ride home after rehearsal. He might offer a ride, but the promise was made to his sister, not to anyone else. We have to read God's word carefully to make sure that we're not expecting God to keep a promise that hasn't been made to us.
If my son has promised my daughter a ride home to our house and someone else jumps in and expects the promise to apply to them, they are likely going to also expect the ride to take them to their own house. However, they have to understand that his promise was not only for a certain person but also to a certain destination.
That brings up another question about the promises of God. What is the intended outcome of the promise? God has a very specific intention for His promises. Just as my son has a specific destination for the ride home (our house), so God has a certain intention and outcome for His promises. We have to be careful that we're not expecting a ride to our house when His promise is actually a ride to His house.
So, we have three things to look at more closely and consider next time:
Are the promises conditional or unconditional?
Are the promises for us?
What is the intended outcome of the promises?
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