Scripture & Thought
2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Pamela McQuade: “Of all the promises we make and break, perhaps the most tragic are those we make to God…And yet we keep promising, for whom else can we turn to in times of real crisis?”
God is not political. When he makes promises, he keeps them. But how does God keep his promises? The prophet Isaiah understood. He said in Isaiah 40:31 – “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Commenting on this text, Haddon Robinson observed that God keeps his promises to his children in three ways:
- Miraculously. The Lord removes the problem miraculously, like Moses at the Red Sea.
- Empoweringly. The Lord empowers us to accomplish even the most difficult tasks.
- Patiently. The Lord gives us the grace to live through the hard challenges of life.
How is the Lord helping you deal with the difficulties that you are facing right now? Is he at work eliminating the source of your troubles? Is he at work empowering you to do things that are far beyond your natural abilities and talents? Or is he whispering to you, “My grace is sufficient for you?”
However he does it, he keeps his promises! As often as we break our promises to God, he never breaks his promises to us. Once he has promised you something, you can count on it. As Reuben Welch has said, “When nothing’s happening, something’s happening.”
Prayer: Father, in these times when political promises flow out of the mouths of candidates for office like water from a spout, help me to be tuned in to the real Promise Keeper! Give me ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, and then give me the grace and courage to accept his promise by faith – considering them done. And help me be a blessing to those who are listening to the wrong voices. Remind me that part of my job is to point others to Jesus, the Source of all truth. In the powerful, never-changing, eternal name of the Promise Keeper, I pray.
Amen.