“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.” Heb 11:1
Our God is a God of faith. Faith is the principle of
operation in His kingdom. Everything He does, He does by faith. That’s why
without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb.11:6).
Also, God is a God of seed. Everything starts as a
seed and grows to its fullness (Gen. 1:11,12).
The promises of God are seeds of faith to be planted
in our hearts, and as they germinate and come to fruitage, they activate the
power of God to bring them to pass.
Our relationships and dealings with men have beclouded
and distorted our judgment and perception of God.
People lie to us. Parents lie to us. Governments lie, every now and then. And because some fathers have abused us as children, once we hear, “Our father in
heaven…” it’s like, “there goes another Dad.”
We have generally picked up a spirit of doubt and
unbelief from our dealings with men. When they say, “I’m coming,” the person is
actually going. So we never trust anybody. And we think God is the same as men,
but no, God is God and men are men.
Men make promises and break chiefly because of:
1.
Unforeseen circumstances: They did not foresee a change in the economic
climate. They were not conversant with the vicissitudes of life. That’s why
some cleverly add the phrase when they make promises, “If all things remain equal…” But God declares the end from the
beginning (Isa 46:10). Nothing can take Him by surprise.
I remember years ago before I got married. A friend
was encouraging me to marry, and promised to sponsor the whole ceremony. When I
finally got ready to marry, my friend didn’t say anything. When I reminded him
of the promise, he said as of the time he made the promise, he never envisaged
that events were going to take a new turn. He would have gladly kept his word,
but the situation had gone “beyond his control.”
I thank God that no situation is beyond God’s control.
“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver
tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psa. 12:6)
God had to check and test the workability of His word
against different circumstances, and the word prevailed. Before a new vehicle
is released, it is normally test-run. They would crash it on purpose – just to
check it’s performance. And yet, you still find them recalling cars after
having been released. It’s never so with God. He has never had to recall any of
His promises made.
God’s Word will
prevail over the circumstances and situations that confront you.
So, this first instance is therefore a case of the
inability of the person to honour his word, not because he doesn’t want to, but
because he is unable to, due to matters arising that were never envisaged while
the promises were being made. But my God is more than able, through all
situations.
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all we could ask or think according to the power that works in
us… (Eph. 3:20)
“…The things which are made impossible with
men are possible with God” (Luke
18:27)
With my God, there is no such thing as impossibility.
2.
Another reason
why men make promises that are not kept is because they simply fail to keep their word. They break their word. They don’t have the integrity to honour
their word. The Bible says God honours them that swear (even if) to their own
hurt and change not (Psa. 15:4)
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of
man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken,
and will He not make it good? (Num.
23:19)
3.
Men make promises
and break because they never meant their
word. They lied. It was a ‘political
statement.’ Winston Churchill said, “Politics is the ability to foretell what
is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have
the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.”
Such men
knew they wouldn’t move a finger, yet they went ahead to promise you heaven and
earth without having access to any. Titus 1:2 says God cannot lie. Heb 6:18
says its impossible for God to lie. So when God says you are healed (1 Pet
2:24) and the Doctor says you have a tumour, oh brother, let God be true but
every man a liar (Rom 3:4). When the Doctor says you can’t have a baby, because
God has said none (of His children) shall be barren (Exo. 23:25,26; Deut. 7:14),
you can look at the Doctor’s diagnosis and laugh.
Everywhere you turn for employment, they say, “No
vacancy,” well, no problem, God makes a way where there seems to be no way. After
all, it was a job you were looking for and not ‘vacancy.’
God is always faithful to His promises (Heb 10:23). He
means every word He says, and says what He means.
Now watch this: Deut. 8:7-9 “For the Lord your God is bringing
you to a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that
flow out of valleys and hills a land of wheat and barley, of vines and figtree
and pomegrates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat
bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are
iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper”. This promise was made
to Abraham hundreds of years before this date. See the account of the children
of Israel.
Joshua 21:43, 45; 23:14
“So the Lord gave to Israel all of which He had sworn
to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.
Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had
spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass”
“Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth.
And you know in all your hearts and all your souls that not one thing has
failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All
have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed”
Many years later, King Solomon would attest to God’s
faithfulness to His promises.
1Kings 8:56
“Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people
Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of
all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses”
All came to pass. Everything! Doesn’t that register
something in you? Not one promise has failed. All have come to pass.
Relax sister, you’ll soon get married. Madam, your
baby is coming. Brother, you’ll gain that admission. Uncle, you’ll get the
contract purely by Divine Connection. My dear, your car has been dispatched. “Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father
of lights…” (Jam. 1:17). It’s coming to you. It’s your turn to testify that our
God never fails.
My friend, God will not fail you. He has never failed
anyone that dares to believe Him, and He can’t fail you (Josh. 1:5). God is
faithful.
“For as many as are the promises of God, they
all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the
Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the
glory of God. (2Cor. 1:20, AMP)
No matter how
many promises are given us in the Word of God, they all find their answer in
Christ, so we say “Amen” to them. If you are in Christ, every good promise in
the Word (from the Old Testament to the New) is yours. Claim it. Believe it.
Expect it.
“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be
content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never
leave you nor forsake you’.
So we may boldly say: ‘ The Lord is my helper; I will
not fear. What can man do to me?’
”
(Heb 13:5, 6)
What you need to find out is, has God said it? If He
said it in His Word, He is bound to keep His Word. You can begin to talk with
boldness because you know that it shall come to pass, no matter what. We serve
a God that never fails. Hallelujah.
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