Promises
A few months ago, I received a call to speak at a ladies' salad supper this month. When the woman told me the theme for the evening was "Promises" I was instantly awake and on the alert. I didn't know what God was doing exactly, but I knew this was going to be an evening with God's fingerprint all over it.
Almost a year ago, a new puppy joined our family. Being a new breed for us to own, this dog has been unlike any we have ever taught and trained. At times it felt like we've never had a dog before, even though we have in fact owned several. When selecting a name for new pets I like to get to know them a little bit and wait for the right name to present itself. With this dog, however, no positive name was presenting itself. I decided to ask God what name He had planned for her. Like a gentle whisper "Promise" landed in my heart.
Promise? It didn't really fit her, but for some reason I liked it anyway. Maybe I liked it because it didn't fit. Maybe I liked it because if this dog who chased my chickens and tried to kill my cats was to be named Promise, God definitely had a miracle in store. And who couldn't use a miracle when they are smack dab in the middle of life's hard?
The new puppy became Promise. And guess what? She is still learning not to chase chickens and not to try and tear apart the cats. Me? I'm doing what I did when that first whisper of Promise rested on my heart. I'm looking my young dog, who is no longer a puppy, in the eyes and singing a children's song that was popular several years ago, by faith. Modified just a smidgen.
Almost a year ago, a new puppy joined our family. Being a new breed for us to own, this dog has been unlike any we have ever taught and trained. At times it felt like we've never had a dog before, even though we have in fact owned several. When selecting a name for new pets I like to get to know them a little bit and wait for the right name to present itself. With this dog, however, no positive name was presenting itself. I decided to ask God what name He had planned for her. Like a gentle whisper "Promise" landed in my heart.
Promise? It didn't really fit her, but for some reason I liked it anyway. Maybe I liked it because it didn't fit. Maybe I liked it because if this dog who chased my chickens and tried to kill my cats was to be named Promise, God definitely had a miracle in store. And who couldn't use a miracle when they are smack dab in the middle of life's hard?
The new puppy became Promise. And guess what? She is still learning not to chase chickens and not to try and tear apart the cats. Me? I'm doing what I did when that first whisper of Promise rested on my heart. I'm looking my young dog, who is no longer a puppy, in the eyes and singing a children's song that was popular several years ago, by faith. Modified just a smidgen.
You are a promise. You are a possibility. You are a promise with a capital "P". You are a great big bundle of potentiality, and if you learn to hear God's voice, and if you try to make the right choice. You are our Promise; you'll be everything God wants you to be.
Perhaps it seems unusual to be singing to a dog, but sometimes all of us need to have our song sung to us. Everyone, even creation, needs to remember their God-given song, the one that keeps time with the beat of our hearts. And maybe the dog doesn't need to hear her song, but maybe I need the reminder of truth. Maybe I need to look this sweet, yet oh so naughty, dog in the eye and sing truth to my own heart so I don't get discouraged and overwhelmed. Sometimes I think that I need the reminder most.
Standing on the promises is exactly what my great grandma did. For decades this hard-working woman of God stood on the promise found in Proverbs 22:6 to train up your children in the way that they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it - for some of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Just like the people in the biblical hall of faith found in Hebrews, she died without having received the complete fulfillment of that promise, but her faith didn't waiver. Grandma continued to stand on this and other promises never doubting the truth and surety of God's Word.
My great-grandmother was a woman just like you and me. She wasn't a pastor's daughter or an evangelist's wife. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, a sister, a cousin, an aunt, an employed, a midwife who loved and believed God. She scolded her husband and talked about the high prices at the grocery. Great Grandma didn't attend a mega church. She faithfully served and worshiped in a small country church.
God is true to His Word, and Grandma knew it. Thankfully for me and all of the rest of us who have come after her, she lived it too. How grateful I am to have known and experienced Grandma's complete trust in God's Word firsthand. There may be a lot about her I didn't get the opportunity to know, but her absolute faith and trust in God was fully known.
Standing before you now, 27 years after she passed, I can testify to you that as far as I know every one of grandma's children and grandchildren came to know Jesus as Lord before they too passed and almost all of her great-grandchildren have too. As each child and grandchild enters into relationship with Jesus, they add their prayers to Grandma's for the remaining family members. As far as I know there are only a handful of greats left to come to Jesus. It is a high and holy honor to stand as a witness to the truth of James 5:16. The prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Grandma didn't see her promises fulfilled on earth, but she believed they would be, and her prayers continue being answered to this day.
Post will be continued tomorrow.
Post will be continued tomorrow.