And THAT’S a Promise!
What is a promise? Webster’s describes it as “a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.” A third definition said, “give good grounds for expecting a particular occurrence or situation.” Making a promise is hard, keeping a promise can be harder, depending on the nature of the promise.
When I googled how many times the word promise is in the bible, I found several different accounts. But that doesn’t necessarily describe the number of promises in the bible, because God doesn’t usually, if ever, say “I promise this” or “I promise that.” One of my favorite promises is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” That word ‘plan’ means that it’s His promise to me; His aim or goal to make sure I prosper; meanwhile He will protect me from harm and ensure that I have hope for my future.
The number of promises in the bible are as talked-about as the word ‘promise’ in the bible…I guess because it may come down to the interpretation of the person reading the Word. But when I looked that fact up, most numbers were well over a 1000. It would take a long, in-depth reading of the word, with a lot of documenting to uncover for yourself what those promises are. My mom has done this and discovered many promises, some that are common, like my Jeremiah 29:11 and some that are hidden treasures, tucked away in the verses of God’s Word.
That last definition of the word promise, “to give good ground for expecting.” To me that translates into “keeping your word” or “you can trust me, I’m good for it.” That is the ABSOLUTE definition of God’s Word to us. His promises are good yesterday, today and tomorrow. They are for everyone at any time. You can expect that He WILL keep His promises because He IS truth. What we need to learn is to ask. The bible is full of scriptures that tell us if we’d just ask, that everything will be given to us, according to His will. Matthew 21:22, John 15:7, Mark 11:24…the list goes on. The key to these verses is belief and trust. We must ask in faith with belief and trust that God WILL answer us, as long as we also understand and accept that His timing and His ways don’t always line up with ours. Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” And THAT’S a promise!!