The Promise Keeper

It’s hard to believe we are already in the next to last month of the year. Where has the time gone? There is something about this time of year that causes me to look back over the landscape of my year and do an assessment. Although looking for areas of accomplishments is good, I generally find myself examining the areas that I started but never finished. My eyes focus on  what I have yet to obtain or see manifest in my life. Do you know what happens when I do this? Disappointment sets in. I lose my grip on the promises of God.

As I walked this morning and pondered yesterday’s message in my heart,  I heard the whispers of God reminding me that He is the promise keeper. For a girl, who has experienced the heartache of broken promises, it’s hard for me at times to really trust. People I thought were trustworthy proved themselves otherwise. And then there is the fact that I don’t always keep the promises I make to myself. I promise to eat better, exercise more, venture out more, think better thoughts, or act less selfishly BUT I fail to keep my word. So the issue of promises often has me mentally squirming and pondering should I really believe that it’ll happen this time.

Our vision of God is often distorted because we look through the lens of our human experiences. A promise is only as good as the character of the one, who makes the promise. As humans, we all have failed to keep at least one promise but not God.

True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they broke their promises, does that mean God will break his promises? Romans 3:3 NLT

Despite the approach of the end of year, do not lose hope in God’s Word. There is still time left. Do as Psalms 119:82 says, strain to see the promises of God. Daily He is fulfilling promises to you and me.

The Road Back to Judah

Have you ever found yourself in a place in life that was absent of judah (praise)? While if we just think and examine close enough there is always something for which to be grateful. But life can throw you some blows that shroud the goodness around you. The book of Ruth tells of the story of one such woman, named Naomi.

In an attempt to avoid famine in her hometown, Naomi travelled with her husband and sons to Moab. During her time there she lost her husband and eventually her two sons. Left widowed, alone, and hopeless in a foreign land. Yet she heard the news of God blessing in her hometown and made the decision to go back home.

Although she was going back to a place she had been before, she wasn’t the same. Her condition had changed. She went out married and came back widowed. She went out with children and came back childless. She left full of hope but was returning hopeless. She was coming back bitter, full of sorrow, and blaming God for her plight.

Like Naomi, I have encountered changes during my life journey. Changes that were for the worse instead of better. Changes that led me back to square one again. Only this time my heart wasn’t as open as before. I wasn’t as hopeful as before.  I wasn’t rehearsing His goodness as before. Why? Because I thought I heard God but it didn’t turn out the way I expected. Or because I experienced loss or disappointment.

Each of our lives  have episodes of loss, disappointment, grief, bad decision-making but our stories don’t have to end there. All the while Naomi was going about trying to survive, God was orchestrating a plan. He was ushering her back to a place in life, one that she couldn’t even conceive in her own mind, that was leading to hope and praise. And He’s doing that for you and me. All the times I cried about loss, I didn’t readily see that He would bring new experiences, which would lead me back to hope, faith, and love again.

God is one who is in the details of our lives. He is in the midst of our everyday affairs and He can make sense of all the randomness.

Everybody Needs a Stripper in Their Life

What’s your chosen stripper’s name?  Not the one swinging on the pole. Or the one that stimulates your sensuality. Oh no I’m referring to the one that was used as an agent of change in your life.  Strippers come in array of disguises. Just take a look at Joseph’s story in the Bible.

In Genesis 37, we find the story of this young man, who was favored my his father but hated my his own brothers. Joseph was adorned with a special coat signifying the esteemed position he held in his father’s eyes. And if that was not enough, he was a dreamer. All of this contributed to him being put on the strippers’ hit list. For him, his strippers were cloaked in the form of his own brothers. They were determined to dash his hope and kill his dreams so much so that they set a plot to fake his death and secretly sale him into slavery.

But that wasn’t the end of Joseph’s story.  I would imagine that his route from favor to the pit to the place brought about a level of maturity in him that he would have never gained had he not had to experience the heat of his brothers’ vendetta.
Our strippers may not be people but perhaps they are situations like failed marriages, physical/sexual abuse, rejection or disappointments. Regardless of the form the stripper comes in, it’s purpose is the same to render you void of hope, dreams, faith, and identity.
However  your story (and my story) doesn’t have to end there. God can take all of stuff we encounter in this life and work it for our good. Some things like pride, selfishness, and independence gets worked out of us while other things such as perseverance, gentleness, meekness, and love get worked in us. 
Are there some situations in your life that is attempting to hold you hostage and keep you in the grips of pain and despair. If so maybe it’s time you look at from a different perspective, so that you may be able to proclaim the enemy meant for your harm but God worked for your good.

The How(s)

How?

I must have asked the question a million times or more

How could it be? How is it that it it didn’t work for me?

I read your Word loaded with promises.

So many good things you promise

But my eyes do not see.

The clock keeps ticking away and it seems there is absolutely no way.

Shattered pieces, disappointment, broken trust fills my days.

Staring at my reality the chasm between the two seems to grow larger day after day.

I have got my eyes looking at the wrong places and faces.

The how doesn’t matter; it’s the who that makes all the difference

Because you are who you say, I can throw away all the  questions of how.

Not how but the question is who am looking unto?

 

When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. Psalm 94:19NLT

For surely you have a future ahead of you; your hope will not be disappointed. Proverbs 23:18 NLT

Despite What’s Seen

Joanne at An Open Book has selected an obscure verse in one of the less popular books of the Bible for today’s Monday Manna discussion. But even in the most unlikely places one can find treasure. Besides, how many really valuable things have you discovered just lying around in plain view? I digress sorry.  Today’s scripture is from Habakkuk 3:17-18 and honestly I can’t recall ever reading this particular passage.

 

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

 

Less Than Ideal Circumstances 

 

As I read this verse it immediately reminded me of another passage of scripture I had read recently in chapter 3 of Lamentations, which reads, “The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease”. Just as when I read that passage during my daily reading, I was drawn to the stark contrast of the writer’s environmental condition to his internal condition. Neither writer was suffering from denial or delusion. Each presented a clear description of just how dismal their current situation was in fact. A situation that was:

• without growth
• void of productivity
• vastly different from times past
• appeared to have no end in sight

 An Atypical Response

 

Yet, their response in the situation was not the most logical one from a natural perspective.  Amidst death, barrenness, destruction, lack and great loss, Jeremiah stated he still had hope and Habakkuk said he was still choosing to have joy. Hope and joy are not the by-products of loss are they? Having lost a few things in my life, I certainly don’t think so. Although, I’ve never suffered loss to the magnitude as these two but loss is loss. And, I certainly know what it feels like to be in a place of no outward sign of growth or productivity without the benefit of knowing when the situation would change.

 

Did these two possess some special ability beyond the reach of us “average” Christians? I think not but rather they chose to use what many of us (or I’ll just say what I) often neglect when facing dire circumstances.  It all boiled down to the power of one choice-the choice of where to apply their focus. Though acknowledging the reality of their situation, they chose instead to focus on God – his character and their past experience Him.

 

Are you looking at some spots of death, lack, or non-productivity in your life? If so, I offer you the same challenge I’m giving myself. Dare to change your focus. Even though facing situations beyond our control, there still remains one controllable choice.

 

What does Habakkuk 3:17-18 speak to you?

 

 

 

 

 

A Never Ending Hope

I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature! This is what the Lord says; “Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored, so I will not consider casting them away for the evil they have done. I, the Lord have spoken! Jeremiah 31:36-37 (NLT)

My  One Year Bible has me reading through the book of Jeremiah currently. I am amazed that even though God’s chosen people had forsaken Him and He was declaring judgment and punishment upon the people, the book is still filled with hope. They would have to endure the season of bondage but change would eventually come. Having been sentenced to 70 years of Babylonian captivity most would have counted these people out and cast away any hope of brighter days for them. However, all was not lost for them and neither is it for you and me. The same God, who was issuing the conviction sentence, proclaimed a future day of liberation.

 

Cast not away your hope for those you see still in bondage. Neither be dismayed about the areas of bondage in your own lives. Our sovereign Lord is still turning hearts, destroying yokes, and saving souls. He continues to accept the world’s rejects and castaways.