God's Promises are Steadfast!

By: Sarah Martin

Let me ask you this, what does a promise mean to you? We hear it all the time, don’t we? “I promise you this. I promise you I will do that.” etc. But what does it actually mean? Well, if you look at the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the first three definitions of the word promise are these: (a) “A declaration that one WILL do or refrain from doing something specified.” (b) “A legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to EXPECT or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act.” (c) “Reason to EXPECT something.” Now if we dig a little deeper into the Hebrew word for promise we get “Hav.ta.cha”, but the root of this word which is “B-T-H”, translates to confidence, security, and sureness. What exactly can we get from these different interpretations of the word promise? I personally find that these descriptions go “hand-in-hand” with one another and are actually quite closely connected. Let me explain a little more in the next few sentences.

We as humans can often, sad to say, break the promises we make. Have you ever heard of the saying “Don’t make promises you can’t keep”? In our human nature, we ourselves cannot always fulfill the commitments we make because we are imperfect (of course, in Jesus Christ we are renewed and transformed into a new creation; going from imperfect and filthy to whole and clean). We cannot find that security in the promises that the world offers us because it will fail us. The world alone will fail us because of its brokenness. How can you place confidence in something that is unstable and broken to begin with?

I’ve got good news for you though, our Father’s promises CANNOT be broken. It says in Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands”. When our God says He is going to do something, He WILL and won’t fail because not only are His words truth that stand, His promises are perfect and steadfast. We can not only have an expectation that He will come through, but we can also have confidence, security, and sureness in His promises, just as we do in Jesus Christ our Rock. In fact, Jesus Christ was and still is the greatest example of God’s enduring promises.

For years on end, the people of God were waiting to see the Messiah who would rescue them. In Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Isaiah prophecies on the coming of the Savior and how He would save us from sin. This prophecy was hundreds of years before Jesus was even born; it was hundreds of years before this promise of God would come to pass. Yes, in our eyes it would seem to have taken many years for this promise, but God was faithful and it came through in His timing. That is one of the reasons why His promises are perfect, it’s because His timing is perfect. In Hebrews 8:6 it says, “But the priestly work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to the other priests. In the same way, the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to His people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on promises of better things”. Jesus was and is the one divine promise that makes way for the better things God has for us. When Christ died on that cross and paid the price, it meant the promise of eternal life, peace, joy, a close and intimate relationship with Him and so much more.

So let me ask you this, are you waiting on a promise from God that has not yet been fulfilled? In Psalm 89:34 it declares: “I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered”. Know this, that no matter how long your waiting season is, God’s word to you will stand and the promise will come to pass in God’s perfect timing because He has a perfect promise for you!