Coffee Talk about Promises
Plain Words for the Needs of the Heart
An Invitation for Plain Talk on Promises
As you read today, will you imagine that we chat over a cup of coffee? I want to share something on my heart.
In previous posts, I’ve asked you to trust the promises of God, to have faith in the unseen or the unrealized. I’ve quoted Scriptures and attempted to paint visions of hope and encouragement. I’ve asked you to look with inner eyes to a place beyond sight. I’ve woven in stories of my experience. But even with all that, I recognize the difficulty of putting your arms around an intangible concept, no matter how sweet and poetically presented.
We tackle the theology, which matters. The better we understand, the stronger we hold to truth. But theology alone may not infuse the heart with all it needs, like the hug or hand on the shoulder we ache for. As I offer you words about hope, faith, and promises, I long to make them more substantial for you. I want to try and bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical—even if just a little.
A Heart Perspective on Promises
So, I will attempt to add another layer, to share with you friend to friend. Imagine we sit across from one another in comfortable chairs, with squishy pillows and fresh coffee on the side table. As you tell me about the tough places where you need to rely on God’s promises, I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. I look straight in your eyes and hope you see the empathy on my face. I nod in agreement as you finish your thoughts. After our talks of theology, I now speak to you from the heart, from the sideline of my own perspective of long years, many mistakes, and ordinary struggles.
“He wants to fill your loneliness and soothe your longing places. He also wants you to plunder the trials you endure for the treasure of his faithfulness and grace. He wants you to seize confidence from the conquest and build a stronger fortress of assurance for the future.”
God sees your pain in waiting for promises. God knows you suffer in the waiting. He does not consider it a disposable byproduct. He gathers every pang, every tear, every disappointment to draw you close to him. He wants to fill your loneliness and soothe your longing places. He also wants you to plunder the trials you endure for the treasure of his faithfulness and grace. He wants you to seize confidence from the conquest and build a stronger fortress of assurance for the future.
“Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…” (Hebrews 6:17-19a) (Emphasis added.)
Oh, dear one to God, let your pain invite you to climb up into God’s lap, lay your head against his heart, close your eyes from the world, and let him love on you as you wait.
God fulfills His promises in perfect timing. Every moment of waiting occurs for our welfare and God’s purposes. As we wait, he patiently waits too—for the completion of his work within us, around us, and for the maximum benefit and triumph.
“The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Your pain matters so much to God that he will not allow a whimper to be spent without your receiving every ounce of gain he has planned for you. In fact, he will bear a father’s anguish of watching his child suffer, to wait on you to find his place of greatest blessing.
God always remembers his promises. As I read through the Scripture Story, I am amazed how the integrity of God’s sweeps through the centuries and generations. Over and over, God keeps his word, no matter how long it takes. He vows to take care of descendants, he guards the boundaries of the land he promised, he fulfills covenants of legacy to the throne. Not a detail falters or fails when God declares it so, even if no one else remembers or believes. The Promise-Maker is faithful—always.
“He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he ordained for a thousand generations…” (Psalm 105:8)
He created you, called you, redeemed you, and restores you. Even if a mother could forget her child, God will never forget you.
The fulfillment of promises may occur differently than we expect. As we discussed in the previous post, God is ever “Yes” in his faithfulness. But we must submit to the way God chooses to fulfill the promise. Many Jews missed recognizing the fulfillment of Jesus as their Messiah, because of their pre-conceived expectations. We must surrender to God’s way of doing things, even though we may not clearly discern or understand. Even if we laugh with cynicism like worn-out Sarah, we must also surrender with courage like bewildered Mary.
"…I am the Lord's servant," said Mary. "May it happen to me as you have said…" (Luke 1:38)
Though a promise may arrive differently in the time or form than expected, it will always contain our highest good, because the Promise-Maker and his purposes are good.
Rest your focus on God’s greatest promises that exceed all earthly desires. Sometimes we don’t have a specific promise for our heart’s desire or an unanswered prayer. Where do we find comfort and peace when the unknowns of God’s will weigh on us? We lift our gaze to the greatest promises, the ones that eclipse earthly desires.
“For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor. 4:17)
The Greatest Promises
The transcendent promises secured for us in Jesus exceed any lack we experience in the meantime. Yes, some completion lies beyond this world. Yet, they hold our eternal joy and unconquerable strength, and we must cherish them above our temporary desires:
God promises he is always with us. (Hag. 2:5; Matt. 28:20)
God promises he always works for our good. (Romans 8:28)
God promises his love for us is secure forever. (Rom. 8:35-39)
God promises us eternal life in Christ. (1 John 2:25)
God promises a new heaven and new earth of perfect righteousness. (2 Pe. 3:13)
Of course, we can choose to reject God and the benefit of his promises. But if we let him, God will secure us and lead our hearts to a place of solace and calm, no matter the circumstances. He will call our gaze to the greatest of his promises and lift our hearts.
A Prayer for Us Both
As our coffee cools, and any tears on our cheeks dry, we finish our conversation. Before we end our visit, I ask if I may pray for you. I flip to a page in The Valley of Vision. The rich and reverent words of the Puritans seem appropriate to join theology and heart together. I read a portion for us both:
“Glorious Jehovah, My Covenant God, all thy promises in Christ Jesus are yea and amen, and all shall be fulfilled.
Thou has spoken them, and they shall be done, commanded, and they shall come to pass.
Teach me to be resigned to thy will, to delight in thy law, to have no will but thine, to believe that everything thou doest is for my good.
Help me to leave my concerns in thy hands, for thou has power over evil, and bringest from it an infinite progression of good, until thy purposes fulfilled.”
Amen.
Thank you for the coffee chat today. We part until next time—with a hug, and a hand on the shoulder.
Which of God’s great promises lifts your gaze and brings comfort in the waiting?
Source Notes:
Bennett, Arthur. The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2002).
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