Promise Keeper

“I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” -Psalm 89:1

There's a little song that has this verse in it, and it is playing in my head as I write this evening. I think it's because I am finally getting to a place in this walk where I can acknowledge the mercy of my God, where I can acknowledge His unfailing faithfulness. I feel so blessed this evening; more blessed than I've felt in 47 days.

Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” I didn't really expect for anyone to be able to say anything to me at this point in my journey that would be so powerful and bring such clarity. I had sought answers so tenaciously, asking anyone who would listen to me. I had sought answers on my knees, on my face, with tears streaming down my cheeks. I had sought answers among faithful friends, knowledgeable counselors, and loving family. “Can someone please tell me what's wrong with me?” I had chased every rabbit trail, followed less palatable pieces of advice, agonized on my bed, wracked my brain, searched the scripture, and came up dry again and again. And then on Saturday, the answer came, in a not-so-earth-shattering way. I was sitting on the porch with the family member of a friend who began to speak of her own experience during a difficult season in her life. She began to recount a specific thought in a specific scenario, and as she described it, it was like she was looking into my heart and telling my own thoughts back to me. But she couldn't see into my heart. No, it was God seeing into my heart, allowing her to be transparent, and the words that came out of her mouth felt like balm on my desperate spirit.

Though I have struggled with knowing God's presence in my life during these difficult times, I am happy to report that God has never left me. Not in the darkest, scariest, lowest moments. Not once. Not ever. My inability to perceive God is not a commentary on God's inability to be present. No such inability exists. He is ever present (or omnipresent for you Bible College buffs) and ever the same. He is a God who makes promises, and (Hallelujah!) He's a God who keeps His promises. When those words fitly spoken began to resonate in my heart, I knew it was God's faithfulness and mercy being applied to my life. It was such a gentle blessing, and so very God of Him.

That evening, while the sun was still out, we glanced out the window and across the sky was painted the most beautiful rainbow, brilliant and breathtaking. We dashed outside into the sprinkling rain and stood there, gazing up into the sky. One of us mentioned the promise of the rainbow, how God will never again flood the earth. God made that covenant with Noah thousands of years ago, and the sign of that covenant was as real across that sky as the rain that was gently falling on our faces. God keeps His promises. Just like that rainbow was a sign to Noah (and a sign to us) so is every jot and tittle in His Holy Word. That's over 3,500 promises for us to take hold of and claim! So tonight, I am claiming the promise found in Romans 15:13, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Joy, peace, and hope. I am looking forward to these beautiful gifts in my future and claiming them for myself even in this season, knowing that my faithful and merciful God will bring me through to victory on the other side.