Why Can We Trust God’s Promises?

Promises in our world are fragile. A company promises a product and delivers less; an official promises a project and then forgets it; a friend promises to meet you and turns up late. So we learn early on not to believe every promise we hear.

But can God lie? The Bible answers clearly:

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

Numbers 23:19

Once God had brought his people into the land he had promised to their ancestors, the book of Joshua sums up the whole story in a single sentence:

Nothing failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Joshua 21:45

God’s faithfulness is seen promise after promise

Abram was seventy-five years old when God called him and promised to make him a great nation (Genesis 12:2-4). The years went by until Abraham was a hundred years old (Genesis 21:5), and then the promise was fulfilled:

Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

Genesis 21:2

God also told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for four hundred years, and would then come out (Genesis 15:13-14). Centuries later, when God sent Moses, the people left Egypt “to the day” (Exodus 12:41).

When that generation refused to trust God, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years – yet God did not go back on his promise, and he brought the next generation into the land with Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 14:30; Joshua 21:43). It may seem to us that God is slow, but he works in his own time.

Why can we trust?

Three truths make our trust in God’s promises secure:

• God’s character: God is holy and true. Paul describes him as the God “who can’t lie” (Titus 1:2).
• God’s power: nothing can stop him doing what he has said. The LORD asked Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14).
• God’s track record: anyone who reads the story of the Bible sees a faithful God, generation after generation. The one who was faithful in the past will remain faithful today and tomorrow.

All God’s promises are made certain in Christ

The apostle Paul writes:

For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.

2 Corinthians 1:20

The clearest proof of God’s faithfulness is that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, just as he promised. And Paul asks a deeply reassuring question:

He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?

Romans 8:32

When you doubt one of God’s promises, look to the cross. There God fulfilled what he had promised, and from there we learn that every other promise in his hands is secure.

The promise is received by faith

God does not lie, but we benefit from his promises through faith. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says of the generation that came out of Egypt:

We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:19

God did not go back on his word; they simply did not trust him. So which promise do you need to hold on to today? Forgiveness for the sinner, strength for the weak, companionship for the lonely, rest for the weary. Jesus says:

Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

These promises are written down, and Christ is their guarantee. You can receive them by faith.

Putting it into practice

• Write down three promises from the Bible that you need at this stage of your life, and put them where you will see them every morning.
• When you doubt one of God’s promises, ask yourself honestly: has God ever let me down before, or is it fear that is doing the talking?
• Share one of God’s promises this week with someone who is going through a hard time.
• Remember each day that God has kept his promise in Christ, and that the rest of his promises are in his faithful hands.

Prayer

Faithful God, we thank you that you do not lie and never forget your word. When we look back, we see your faithfulness at every step; when we look to the cross, we see your promise fulfilled. Give us a faith that stands firm on your promises, even when we cannot yet see them fulfilled before our eyes, and teach us that you are at work even in the silence. Let our hearts be at peace in you. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Related verses

• 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us.”
• Hebrews 10:23: “Let’s hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful.”
• 2 Timothy 2:13: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful; he can’t deny himself.”
• Romans 4:20-21: “Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.”
• Lamentations 3:22-23: “…because his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.”

Do you have a question about this reflection, or would you like us to pray with you? Get in touch, or plan your visit to our weekly meeting.