God Keeps His Promises (Daily Refresh, 12-09)

“’The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.” 
Jeremiah 33:14 NIV

A lot of people would have laughed at Jeremiah when he said these words. Why? Because it seemed like God had abandoned both Israel and Judah. 

At this point in the story of the Bible, Israel is gone—wiped out by an invading army. Now Judah is alone, and another massive army is at their gates to destroy them too. The situation couldn’t have been more hopeless. 

Have you ever experienced a moment like that? Maybe it was a life-changing loss, or impossibly difficult news. In those painful moments, it can feel impossible to trust God’s promises. The people listening to Jeremiah probably felt the same way. But it wasn’t the end of their story because circumstances can’t ruin God’s promises. 

Yes, the enemy broke in and took God’s people into captivity for decades. But God didn’t abandon His people or give up on His promises. Over time, He rescued His people from captivity and brought them back home. 

God hasn’t abandoned you in your pain either. You might feel like there’s no way out of your situation, or that your choices disqualify you from God’s love. But God keeps His promises. 

For generations after returning from captivity, God’s people struggled. They continued to face heartbreak, setbacks, invasions, and captivity. But when they least expected it, God fulfilled His promise. He sent His son, Jesus, to lead everyone, including the people of Israel and Judah, into a new and better future. 

God’s promise of a better future applies to you, too. When we pursue God with our whole lives, we find peace, strength, and contentment. And we live with confidence knowing that one day, we’ll get to spend eternity with Jesus. We have new life believing that God has fulfilled His promise.

My Thoughts

One of my memory verses for this year has been Numbers 23:19, which says that “God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent. Has He not said and will He not make it good? Has He spoken and will he not do it?” I have pondered and pondered that verse and I always conclude that I cannot find a single circumstance in the Bible or in my life in which God did not keep His promises. When God says He will punish, He does. When He says He will reward, He does. When things look the bleakest, God is still there, carrying out His plan and His promises because He is a Promise Keeper.

Christmas is the season for joy, hope, and giving. God gave and we accept. We like the lights, the decorations, the gifts coming in the mail or under the tree. But pause and think about what it cost our Heavenly Father to keep His promise of redemption. He sent his ONLY Son, the One who had been with Him from creation, to us as a babe born into lowly circumstances and sent to minister to a doubting and needy world. God keeps His promises, always. If God says it, you can count on it happening. Probably not when you think it will come. After all, there was four hundred years of silence from the prophets before Jesus was born. Probably not how you think it will come. The people to whom Jesus came expected a warrior to free them from Rome. What they got was a Savior to free them from sin and offer them the gift of eternal life. God’s promises are fulfilled in a way that is better than we expected and more than we hoped for. He is a Promise Keeper who shows us the way to Him. Waiting for a promise is hard, but if it is coming from God, the wait will be worth it!