Promise
“Do as you promised, so that your name will be great
forever.” 2 Sam 7:24
God always keeps his promises, but oftentimes we make a mistake by considering something
to be his promise, when it really isn’t.
God isn’t beholden to us nor does he owe us anything. He pours his mercy upon us not for
our sake, but for his own sake, for he is by nature loving and gracious.
“Are you saying that God simply can’t help loving his creatures?” Here is a sticky question.
God is love and he can’t do anything that is contradictory to his attribute, but it doesn’t mean that he
does not have other options available to him as far as loving his children is
concerned. There are thousands of ways by which he expresses his love to his
children, many of which we may not appreciate.
Was it love when God took something we treasured away from us? Was it love when our hearts were broken to
pieces and life seemed to be so unbearable? Was it love when we experienced
sorrow so excruciating beyond what we could bear?
Do as you promised, Lord, we
pray.
It’s crucial, however, for the Lord to show us what his promises are so that we will know exactly when his
promises come true and will not grumble or start to question God’s love for us
when seemingly unloving things take place in our lives.
The greatness of God’s name should not be based on our interpretations of his actions in our daily lives.
How we perceive him on the basis of what has happened to us has nothing to do
with his greatness or lack thereof. God is by nature great and his reputation
will not be enhanced or impaired in any way by our perception of him. Let’s not
fool ourselves by considering otherwise.
God’s name is great forever, no matter what we do or how we perceive him. He was great before he created the
first man and will remain great when the last man perishes on earth.
O the divine self-sufficient, who can fathom?
The things we have done for the Lord may actually have been done for our own sake without us knowing it. To
love God is in reality to love ourselves and to serve the Lord is actually
“self-serving,” for we feel the most fulfilled when we fulfill God’s will and
feel the most complete when we complete what God has designed for us to
accomplish.
What are God’s promises for us then?
He is the most glorified when we are the most satisfied in him. I came across this idea somewhere. The
promises he has made to us are actually the ones he made to himself and, as
long as we do his will faithfully, all his promises will come true and we will
find true fulfillment in life.