God has made specific promises to specific people and has kept them for centuries. We can still trust him today.
Very often our relationship with God has no past and no future. We are so focused on the moment that we forget about what God has promised in the past. He kept his word then and he will keep the promises to us.
When we continue to spiral in our self-focused present we lose God’s perspective in our lives.
God’s promise to Abraham
Genesis 12 recalls Abraham’s obedience when God told him to leave his homeland and go to a place that God would show him. He left not knowing where he was going but confident that God would show him the way. When he arrived in Canaan God told him that this was the land.
God made a promise to him. His promise included the land, descendants, and blessing. Abraham would be blessed and would be a source of blessing to others.
In Genesis 15 Abraham brings his doubts to God. He was an old man and his wife was old and they had no children. God performed a ritual in which he bound himself to his promise and assured Abraham that it would be kept.
Abraham believed God.
Five centuries later, he brought Abraham’s numerous descendants from slavery in Egypt to that Promised Land. He blessed Abraham and the Jewish people in many ways.
Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the faith chapter. It reminds us that Abraham looked to the future and lived as a wandering pilgrim in the land promised to him.
He believed God
God’s promise to David
David was a young man when he was anointed king after King Saul had disobeyed God. Through a decade of running, fighting, and hiding David believed God’s promise.
After he was king over the entire nation and had captured Jerusalem he built himself a palace. He told his advisor, the prophet Nathan, that he wanted to build a beautiful building to house the Ark of the Covenant. It would be the center of worship of the true God. (2 Samuel 7)
Nathan advised David to go forward with his plans. That night Nathan received a dream from God that promised David and his descendants a grand future. He would not build a temple to God. His son, Solomon, would. David would not build a house for God but God build a house for him. The house of David would rule over God’s people forever.
God’s promise proved true. David’s family ruled God’s people for over 400 years. Some of the kings were godly. Some were as bad as the pagan kings around them but God never broke his promise to David. After the Jews were conquered by the Babylonians, David’s family existed out of the limelight.
Then Jesus was born. He was a descendent of David, the Messiah, truly God and truly man. His death paid the penalty for sin. He was raised and ascended to heaven and will reign forever.
God’s promise to David proved true.
We can trust him as well.
I have covered some of these issues in earlier posts:
God promised Abraham a great name.
Go…I will show you. Go … I will tell you.
What do you do when it’s hard to trust God?
Would God’s answer be acceptable to us?
Questions for consideration:
What are promises that you know God has made to those who follow him?
Do you really believe these promises?
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