When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”
Hebrews 6:13,14
Once upon a time, a promise meant something. If you promised to do something, you did it. No matter how much it cost you in time or money, you kept your promise. If you promised to take your kids to the beach and you broke your leg, you kept your promise and hobbled out onto the sand with a cast and crutches.
The other side of that coin was also true. When someone made a promise to us, we expected them to keep their word and their promise. Some of us are more forgiving about promises made to us. Others, not so much.
When someone made a promise to me, I burned it into my memory. I never forgot it and I did everything I could to be sure that they never forgot it either. My second-grade teacher once promised me that I could do the Cossack dance in front of the whole class. You know the one where the Russian men squat down and kick their legs out while folding their arms.
If you know me at all, when someone made a promise to me, I was just so broken and wanting more and more attention that I never, ever, ever, never forget. And to make things even worse, I keep reminding them. Over and over, I keep bringing it up. I won’t let them up for air until they keep their promise.
This is exactly what I did to my poor teacher. Eventually, I wore her down like so many unsuspecting promise makers. She got up in front of the class, and in that exasperated tone that we know all too well, told the class to pay attention while Chet did the Cossack dance.
Unlike you and me, the good news is that when God makes a promise, he always, always, always remembers. Period. We don’t have to worry about it. We don’t have to wonder if he’s forgotten it. We don’t have to put something on our calendar as a reminder for us to remind God of that promise he made.
God’s promise to Abraham wasn’t just one of those ordinary promises. You know, those promises that we get day in, day out. Not on your life. This promise from God wasn’t just to bless Abraham, but to surely bless him.
All by itself, God’s word is enough. And so is God’s promise. But God pulls out all the stops on this promise to Abraham He’s not just going to give him an everyday kind of blessing, but one of his surely blessings. A blessing that will knock his socks off. A blessing for all the world to see. A blessing that’s over and above all the other kind of promises and blessings.
When God says surely, we should sit up and take notice. We should write it down in our diary. We should highlight it with a big, fat yellow highlighter. We should put it on brightly colored Post-it® Notes and stick them all over the refrigerator of our life. We should enter it into a daily reminder on our phone that pops up each and every day. We should put up signs in the front yard for everyone to see.
Just look at these two promises that God surely made to Abraham.
Blessings. This isn’t just one big, blow the top off of your head off kind of blessing. It’s not a big blast blessing. It’s a continual and overflowing life of blessings. Lots and lots of blessings. Blessings that just keep on coming and coming. It’s like God’s saying that he’s going to be blessing Abraham with blessings and blessings.
Descendants. And while one of Abraham’s descendants will be the one and only savior of the world, God’s promise is wider and deeper than this. God promises to multiply this one guy into a countless number of people in his family. When we think about descendants, we add them one at a time. But with God, he can multiply them.
One important thing about the promises of God is that they’re not about where we are right now. That would make them “now” and “present”. Many times, God’s promises are about something that he guarantees sometime in the future. It’s not for today but for a tomorrow down the road.
Another thing about God’s promises is that he’s the one who delivers what he wants. He’s in the best position to give what’s best. What shows who he is and his love for us. We don’t get to put God in a box and demand that God show up in a certain way. Doing what we want. In the way we want him to do it. In the timing that we think best.
So, this means that we’ve got to be really flexible when it comes to God’s promises. He’s in charge and we’re not. He’s the one with unlimited power, knowledge, and wisdom. He’s the one with a plan for us and everyone on planet Earth. A plan for our good. For his glory.
Our response to his promise is to promise to receive what he gives. To trust our great and loving God. To receive what he gives. When he gives it. How he gives it. And God will more than just take care of you, he will love you like his own, dear, child. Our God who wants to spend eternity with us. Now, that’s some promise.
Noodling Questions
Give three examples of promises that have been burned into your memory.
Why are some promises more important than others?
How are God’s promises guaranteed?
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