By the time we flip the page to February on our wall calendars (or simply scroll down on our phone calendars), a month’s worth of unfulfilled promises often litters our memories.
How many of us keep even something as simple as New Year’s resolutions for more than a few weeks? Going to the gym regularly, changing our eating habits—even these small commitments are difficult to keep for a month, let alone a year.
While unfulfilled New Year’s resolutions may seem inconsequential, they are indicative of a pattern in humanity that is far less innocuous. Our tendency to break promises points to a deeper spiritual reality—our unfaithfulness to God. Even believers, though they are being sanctified, struggle with this sin.
But we serve a God who not only makes promises—He keeps them all. Our God is faithful to His unfaithful people, giving us salvation and making a way for faithful living as we trust in His promises.
God’s Faithfulness to His Unfaithful People
Perhaps one of the clearest insights we gain into God’s faithfulness to His promises comes from the book of Deuteronomy. As the Israelites camp in the Plains of Moab, waiting to enter the Promised Land, Moses gives them a series of three sermons on God’s covenant with them. He reminds them not only of God’s promises to them, but of their promises to God (Deuteronomy 26:16-17
"Today the LORD your God has commanded you to obey all these decrees and regulations. So be careful to obey them wholeheartedly. You have declared today that the LORD is your God. And you have promised to walk in his ways, and to obey his decrees, commands, and regulations, and to do everything he tells you.
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But the Israelites were not going to be faithful to this covenant—and God already knew this even before they had gone astray (Deuteronomy 30:1
"In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the LORD your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions.
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Instead of revoking His covenant promises to His faithless people, God chose to remain faithful (see2 Timothy 2:13
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.
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). Because they could not keep the old covenant, He promised them a new one to save His people, making a way for them to draw near to Him (Deuteronomy 30:6
"The LORD your God will change your heart* and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!
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God’s Promise of Salvation
God did not make an empty promise. Centuries after Moses spoke to the Israelites, God sent His Son to fulfill His promise to us.
Jesus perfectly kept the old covenant and died for us so that we might have new life in Him. And when Jesus ascended into heaven, God still did not abandon us. He gave us the Holy Spirit to indwell us—the covenant written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34
"The day is coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the LORD. "But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, `You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."
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God did not have to promise us this salvation; we did not deserve this gift. But He is a faithful God who fulfills His every promise even when we are unfaithful.
God’s Invitation to His Children
As we come to trust in God’s promises, He empowers us to live faithfully. Meditating on the six categories or themes of God’s promises below can be a means of strengthening your walk with Him:1
God’s Principles: God’s words are trustworthy and believable (see2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
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God’s Presence: God is always with us (seeRomans 5:5-8
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
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God’s Provision: God will meet our every need (seeMicah 7:18-20
Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people?You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.
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God’s Protection: We never have to be afraid (seeHabakkuk 3:17-19
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines;even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren;even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer,* able to tread upon the heights.(For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)
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God’s Plan: God is in control; there are no accidents in His world (seePhilippians 1:6
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
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God’s Preparation: God has prepared an end for His creation and promised future glory to His children (see1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died* will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
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God’s promises come with a call to action: We can choose to walk in them, or we can choose to ignore them. In other words, we can choose faithfulness or faithlessness.
God will be faithful to His promises, even though He may fulfill those promises in different ways for different people.
If you struggle with any of the promises listed above, meditate on that category and fill your mind with Scripture. Our faithful God will reveal Himself to you as you pursue Him.
Ken Boa has been engaged in a ministry of relational evangelism and discipleship, teaching, writing, and speaking for more than 40 years. An author of more than 50 books (from Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Tyndale House, and NavPress, among others), his titles include Conformed to His Image, Handbook to Prayer, Life in the Presence of God, and Faith Has Its Reasons; he is also an editor or contributor to multiple Bibles and winner of three Gold Medallion Book Awards. View a complete list of books authored by Ken Boa. As founder and president of Reflections Ministries (based in Atlanta), he seeks
