“Not one of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed: all came to pass.”
–Joshua 21:45 (NRSV)
My son, Jackson, is notorious for saying “you promise?” And now Wylder is picking up on it. You know what. I will let you in on a little secret. I almost never say that I do promise. I almost always say… we will see, probably, most likely, etc. I don’t want him to hear me promise something and then not follow through on it. Because inevitably, as a parent to now 3…I will not follow through on that promise. I don’t want him to experience from me a failed promise.
But. There has been a handful of times that I have accidentally promised and he has experienced that. And he usually yells in my face “but you promised!!!”
Can you relate?
Maybe it’s your own kids who have yelled in your face. Maybe you have made a promise to someone else and it not go the way you planned and so your promise fell short. Maybe someone promised you something and their promise fell short. It doesn’t feel great to
break a promise or have someone break their promise.This is why I am so thankful I can turn my son back to God and His never failing promises. I mean if Jesus isn’t the picture perfect example of never failing promises – I don’t know what is!
Think about it for a second.
If you’ve read scripture you have read God’s people, Israel, over and over and over promise God that they will be good and follow Him. And then what do they do? Their own thing—breaking those promises. God could have said, “sorry” with a shrug of His shoulders. But God did not do that. In fact. God delivered on the most amazing promise ever. The birth of Jesus and ultimately the sacrifice of Jesus for all humankind so that we might have life and have it to the full!
This Christmas season. I want you to remember God’s never failing promises in your life when everything around you seems to be failing. Phases, schooling for our kids (or for you), work life, etc. Lot’s of “promises” were made this last year and we also experienced a lot of let downs and missed milestones in our families lives. It’s been hard. So look to Jesus this Christmas and experience the hope that He brings in being our never failed promise.
Nichole is an ordained Elder in the Church of the Nazarene. She wrote the 2020 Advent Devotionals for Generations Community Church, which were published online on the original devotion.al site, which has since been incorporated into Encounter (this site).