Inspirational Thought of the Day:

God is capable of fulfilling all of His promises because He is in complete control.

Scripture of the Day:

Jeremiah 31:35

“The LORD has made a promise to Israel. He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to give light by night. He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll. He promises it as the one who is known as the LORD who rules over all.”

The famous pinky promise meant something on the schoolyard. It somehow bore more intentionality than merely speaking a promise did. Not sure why. Because every pink swear I ever saw was broken as soon as the telling of the secret was deemed as profitable.

It was 4th-grade recess and I loved to swing. The spider swing was a favorite with friends, but on this day I was wearing white jeans – Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader branded white jeans – everybody would want to swing with me.

I liked to play with the unpopular people more. They just seemed more real – and, uh, I fit in with them. I asked my friend Gina if she would go on the swing with me. Soaring high in the sky we thought we could reach the sun. A giggle fest resumed and before I knew it – my uncontrollable laughter led to an unfortunate accident. I peed on poor Gina.

Mortified that my white jeans would clearly display my error, I did not think about Gina’s saturated lap. I asked her to please promise (the pinky swear kind) that she would not tell anyone. (Yeah, as if we could really go unnoticed). I then tied my jacket around my waist and ran home to change. Gina did not have that option. Panicked about people all knowing of my embarrassing accident, I walked back in the classroom sheepishly.

Gina kept her end of the promise. I didn’t. Instead, I threw her under the bus and said she had peed on me. (This is B.C. days, y’all – thank God that He saved me!) Even then, the fear of man was a powerful impetus to cause me to break a promise and even lie.

I have often thought about when people have broken promises with me but have found that remembering my shortcomings, instead, reminds me that I am no better. It is the grace of God that I saw my inability to keep promises apart from God’s grace.

It hurts when people don’t keep their promises, yet to live in a world without promises would hurt more.

The brokenness we experience when promises are severed serves to make us grateful that our God is incapable of ever breaking one single promise. He just can’t. He is perfect.

Christ made it clear that He did not entrust Himself to man, yet He was willing to make a promise with a people who could not keep up their end of the promise.

A promise is only as good as the One making that promise. The promises of God are made by One Who fixed the sun and the moon in their places and stirs the waves of the sea. He who made us is capable of enabling us to keep promises, too.

Hope Discovery for Today:

It hurts when people don’t keep their promises, yet to live in a world without promises would hurt more.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for forgiving us and making promises when we were far from You and undeserving. Help us to glorify You by keeping promises we speak to others.