A promise is like a cool breeze on a hot day. We joyfully welcome it, but are cautiously concerned it will not deliver what we expect. We want to believe every promise made to us, but experience whispers in the ear to be careful. Being burned and hurt too many times can numb the heart to the power of a promise. And besides the personal experiences of a broken promise made to us, there is, in our honest moments, the knowledge we too have broken many promises we’ve made to others.

Despite the painful memories of broken promises we should take promises seriously. Promises are the stuff of life. Just as we cannot live without air, we cannot live without promises. This is because promises bring hope, and life without hope is not life but mere existence. Promises come to us whether we like it or not. They find their way into every corner and crevice of our lives. People make legal contractual promises. People make relational promises. And people make everyday promises they think little about, like the promise to come back from the store. It is good and necessary to take promises seriously.

God makes promises too. He take his promises very seriously. God created life to be built on promises because he created life to be built on trust. Promises and trust are inseparably woven together in the fabric of life. Promises work on trust as life works on trust. We need to trust each other even though sometimes it’s hard and we fail. More importantly we need to trust God. He is trustworthy and his promises never fail.

God is a lavish and liberal promise maker. The Bible is filled to overflowing with the promises of God. You just have to be looking for them. But God does not throw out promises just for the sake of their abundance. Each promise God makes is purposeful and potentially dynamic in the life of any believer. His promises have real power. They can change a person’s life if that person will utilize the latent energy packed into each promise.

The real power of God’s promises is God himself. God keeps his promises perfectly and to the last detail. While others may waver at times, or even often, with the follow-through to their promises, God is always faithful. It always comes back to trust, trusting the one who has shown himself time and time again to be a promise keeper.

Trusting the God of the promise is usually not an easy endeavor. We often struggle mightily to tame the fear and doubt that threatens to take over our hearts. It is in these moments that we go back to the promises and the God of the promises time and time again. They will calm the storms that rage. We must trust God. If we know the promise and stake our claim on the promise, but fail to trust the one who makes the promise, then we fail to realize God’s great purpose for the promise in our life. The Bible encourages us in Hebrews 6:12.,”So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Know the promises. Trust the promises. God is with you.