The Promises of God

If God makes a promise, can you depend on it? Does He have the power to carry out what he says he will do? Is his word trustworthy? Those of us who know God will quickly answer, "yes". We know that God is not only powerful; he is also faithful.

So, what about that cold that we’ve been battling for the past two weeks? Or what about the glaucoma, the cancer, the emotional issues, the mental hangups? What about that anxiety? Doesn’t God promise that he will heal all of our diseases? I know of Christians that have been healed, but I also know of those who have gone to their grave with their disease, and even at times, because of it. Why the seeming randomness? Has God forgotten some while healing others? Why does tragedy strike some who have faith in God while skirting around others who have faith as well?

Before I answer that question (it’s really one question), let’s look at the Scripture to see what it has to say about the promises of God. Here are three things we can say about his promises (there are more, of course):

1. The promises of God are for his glory and purpose

2. The promises of God do not need our help to be fulfilled

3. God’s promises are fulfilled according to his timeline, not ours

1. The promises of God are for his glory and purpose

God sends forth His word with purpose and power according to his desire. It will accomplish its intended purpose. It will not fail, it will succeed. ¹ His promises do not fall under the "your wish is my command" category. They are not for the fulfillment of our personal pleasures. The heart that delights itself with him will find that its desires are fulfilled ² - not according to temporal or earthly loves, but in accordance with true riches. ³ He gives us all things to enjoy, but only he should be worshipped.

When Jesus taught us how to pray as a community, he illuminated to us an attitude of submission that should be carried with us into our prayers, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” ⁴ In our claiming of his promises, as we embrace the truth found his word, let us pray for his fame, his renown, and his glory to be displayed through their fulfillment.

2. The promises of God do not need our help to be fulfilled

Many years ago, my wife and I had been given a prophecy that I would take her to a world-famous country and show her some technical things, things related to my work. Some years after that, I saw an opportunity to bring training to my company’s operation in the Philippines. I could taste the fulfillment of God’s promise. But I made a grave mistake. I pushed for this training, I tried to “made it happen.”

God does not need our help in fulfilling His promises. They find their success not in our efforts (whatever that may look like) but rather in his faithful love. God is the one who fulfills his word. God’s promises are rooted in his faithfulness and power, not ours. ⁵ (1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:8, 1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:30, Psalm 37:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Jude 1:24, Philippians 2:13, Philippians 1:6, 1 John 3:2)

The Lord, (he’s so gracious, patient, and merciful), did a strange and wonderful thing surrounding that trip. My wife and I were on our way to the airport, feeling unsettled about the whole thing. We seriously wondered if we would make it back to the states. After a word of encouragement from our daughter Kaity, who told us that God could arrange things to stop us from getting on that plane, we decided to continue on to the airport.

As I went to check in, a turn of events started that would make me understand - it is God who fulfills his promises, not me. The airline could not issue me a ticket. Apparently, my passport name didn’t agree with my airline reservation. No amount of effort on the part of the airline representative or my company’s travel agency could fix the problem. Honestly, it was quite odd. Our flight left the country without us, and we headed back home in awe and wonder at what God had arranged.

One week later, we were on a plane to the Philippines, feeling peace, an important lesson learned. The message was received. We don’t dictate the move of God with our words, with our arrangements, or with anything else. We simply hold on to his word and trust in him to fulfill it in his good time and in his glorious way.

3. God’s promises are fulfilled according to his timeline, not ours

There are times we must wait on the Lord for his answer, for the realization of his promise. ⁶ But we must never place our hope in the answer. Our hope is in the one who gives and fulfills the promise in his wise time.

There is value in suffering and waiting patiently for him. Waiting can be a refining process - a growing experience - if we allow it to be. We can see his promises being fulfilled in our lives like silver being refined in a furnace, coming forth pure through the waiting. ⁷

We get into trouble when we start applying our timeline to the fulfillment of God’s promises instead of submitting to his. This is why Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.” (John 5:19) “Lord, give us eyes to see what you are doing: to peer into the heavenlies and see your glorious hand at work.” There is nothing wrong with embracing the promises of God found in scripture ⁸, but we do well to submit to his timeline in the fulfillment of them.

The real question that needs to be answered here, the underlying query would be, “Is God really good?” I believe this is what it comes down to. Whether we are healed now, ten years from now, or on eternity's doorstep, can we say, “God is truly good”? Does a life that bears up well under suffering glorify and fulfill the promises of God as much as the one that receives a miraculous healing? I believe it does.

All of us face the same end. Some of us will enter forever leaving behind a strong and healthy life, while some of us will cross over leaving behind frailty and sickness. Does He heal all of our diseases? Will he fulfill all of His promises? Yes, he will - it’s a simple matter of when. ⁹ 

Scripture References

¹ Isaiah 55:10-13 NIV

² Psalm 37:4

³ Philipians 4:19

⁴ Matthew 6:10

⁵ Psalm 94:18

⁶ Psalm 40:1-2

⁷ Psalm 12:6

⁸ Romans 15:4

⁹ 1 John 3:2

The greatest healing is a mended relationship with God. And we, as sheep who were straying, have that now. (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, 25)