Promises

I love a good cup of coffee. Drip, pour over, French press, espresso, Cuban, Turkish--the preparation method doesn't matter. Good coffee is good coffee. So, I was all in when a new fully automatic coffee machine hit the market. I found the coffee machine maker's (I am choosing not to use their name)  website, where I tried to learn everything I could, reading every page and watching every video. The plethora of details convinced me that the new coffee machine would revolutionize coffee and my morning cup. I loaded my online cart and confirmed my purchase, aware that I was preordering. What I, and many others, did not know when we confirmed our purchases was that it would take six years before the company would deliver their first units. You can feel foolish when you trust someone who does not keep their promises. I felt foolish because I put my trust in someone who looked good on the outside, but behind the marketing, their promise was hollow, and my coffee cup was empty.

Have you ever felt foolish because you trusted someone else and the promise they made? Promises are powerful, from filling your coffee cup to intimately sharing your life. The greater the promise, the more we are devastated by promises unkept. Promises are easy to make. Promises are easier to make than they are to fulfill. Unkept promises can erode trust.

Unkept promises can break us and our relationships with others. But there is good news. We will never feel foolish when we trust the promises of those who have the capacity to keep their promises. The good news is that God can more than keep His promises.

"For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead" (Colossians 2:12).

Some people question whether we should trust God to keep His promises. When living in an ocean of broken promises, it makes sense to question if anyone, even God, can keep a promise. Some may claim that trusting God to keep His promises is blind faith. Yet, as we explore the biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation, we surface one story, one meta-narrative about God. We learn about God's mighty power in creation, His mercy, love, and mighty power in rescuing the nation of Israel, and in the Psalms, we discover God's mighty power holding together the cosmos. We see God's grace, generosity, and power in raising Jesus from the dead. Finally, we look ahead and see God display His mighty power as He remakes the heavens and the cosmos into His kingdom. Trusting God to keep His promises is not blind faith. Trusting God to keep His promises is based on how He has displayed His power in the past.

Some churches indeed look good on the outside. It is possible to tell God's story only by highlighting the benefits and avoiding the costs. Some teachers focus heavily on God's love and mercy to make God more appealing, overlooking God's justice, judgment, and wrath. A close look at the biblical text reveals that God never promised us the perfect church or an easy life. And when we were without the hope of escape from His judgment and wrath, God forgave our sins through Jesus Christ. God does not oversell and underdeliver. We can trust all the promises of God.