Leaning on God's Promises
Copyright ©2020 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
Sometimes, times become so challenging and chaotic that the only thing that we can lean on to keep moving are the promises of God. So, how does one do this when one is skeptical of his/her worthiness? And, what does it mean to rely on God's promises?
When I was 13 or 14 years old, my father made a deal with me . After seeing support staff riding around on motorized scooters during that year's Tour de France, I had asked for one for my birthday. Unbeknownst to me, my father was very concerned about their safety, since they were similar to motorcycles, and he didn't like motorcycles. I can only guess that he didn't share his concern with me so as not to saddle me with the same fears that he had. Instead of sharing his concern, he made a deal. He promised that if I could wait an additional year, he would get me a car. In my mind, the choice was simple--wait for the car!
I had no idea what his financial situation looked like. All I knew is that, for another year, I'd have to walk, bike, or catch a ride to school. Since I was already doing this, I felt as if I could handle another year.
During this extra year, however, what I did not foresee was that, moving on to high school would double my daily commute, it would take me along a major traffic route, and because it was an earlier start time, parental drop offs would be extremely rare. In spite of the increased challenges in getting to school, I hung in there, and true to his word, my dad gave me his car at the end of my 10th grade year as he bought another car for himself.
In retrospect, this time in my life set the stage for me to learn many valuable life lessons. There was, of course, the benefit of delayed gratification. There was the value of perseverance. There was the lesson of compromise and being open to new possibilities. But, the one lesson that I learned, which informs this message today, is the ability to trust in a promise.
Years later, while making reference to this car deal, my father advised me after my first child was born to be very careful about promises that I made, especially to my children. He advised that, while you want to be able to do everything for them, you won't be able to; and that if you want them to be able to trust your word, try to promise only what you can deliver.
His advice proved to be more valuable than gold... and in moments of reflection, I naturally considered these experiences in the context of all of the promises and covenants that God had established in the Bible with Israel. Surely, God would not promise what He couldn't deliver, right? Why is it, then, that we aren't leaning on God's promises?
In our scripture reading, we find that Nehemiah, living in captivity, received word about the plight of those who were left in Jerusalem, as well as about Jerusalem itself. The account left him distraught and grief-stricken. In his depressed state, he then turned to prayer.
In his prayer, Nehemiah made reference to a promise that Moses made about God's long-suffering (Nehemiah 1):
[8] Remember, I beseech thee, the word that Thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
[9] But if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My Name there.
This is very similar to our beloved scripture from Deuteronomy 4:25-31! The unfortunate element of this promise, however, is that in order to activate it, Israel had to be scattered among the nations, and endure all that came with bringing that terrible decree to pass.
To his credit, Nehemiah made mention of his sins and the sins of Israel, which gave God justification to perform the punitive action (i.e. the scattering). However, in his prayer request, Nehemiah leaned on a promise.
"LORD, we're in this mess because we didn't live up to our end of the bargain. However, I am here now, admitting to our shortcomings, and pleading with You to remember Moses' promise that, even in our diminished state, if we turned to Thee, You would hear our prayer."
Nehemiah didn't ask for much; he just wanted favor in the eyes of the king. God heard Nehemiah's prayer, and gave him favor in the king's eyes, and today, we read about Nehemiah in the Bible because of the consequences of that fateful prayer where Nehemiah leaned on one of God's promises.
Anyone who is religious, or even anyone who has been raised to believe in God is probably familiar with the practice of prayer. People may not feel all that comfortable doing it, or confident about their prayers being heard, but interestingly, it persists as a "thing to do."
We turn to prayer especially in hard times, or when we need some sort of provision or deliverance. We turn to prayer when we feel overwhelmed, when the "ask" is more than we can accomplish on our own. We turn to prayer when "powers that be" seem to be out to get us, and no one will stand up for us or for right. We turn to prayer when we find ourselves in the depths of despair, and we need a lifeline tossed down to pull us up. And, indeed, we all have stories--testimonies--about how God delivered us from the pit, how God raised us from the sick bed, how God enabled us to
prevail over our enemies, how God gave us favor in hostile territory. We sing that song, "You don't know what He's done for me. He gave me the victory!"
Humorously enough, some of us have tried to bargain with God in prayer, saying things like, "LORD, if you get me out of this mess, I'll never, ever come back to this mess!" And, just like our ancestors did after crossing the Red Sea... once the emotion died down and the threat of death was not so imminent and palpable, they fell back into old, familiar, self-defeating habits1.
In the context of Exodus 15, then, we can certainly perceive that there are different levels of prayer. For our purposes today, let's say that there is the "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" prayer, and then there's the "let's work together" prayer. When we consider Nehemiah's prayer, it was definitely the latter. In fact, with the availability of all these covenants, there is the opportunity for the child of God to elevate him/herself to a higher spiritual level!
Among the majority of religious people (or pray-ers in general), while there is a certain generic faith in God's ability to deliver, why is it that we tend to shy away from reliance on His promises? Surely, God will do what He will (in terms of saving or not saving), but when there is an ironclad promise, why not lean on it?
Well, I offer that, in order to lean on God's promises, God has to be able to lean on us, i.e. to trust in our word that we will be there for Him, accountable to Him, and in service to Him.
Let me liken this step up as moving from being a team player to a star player. When the game is on the line, even though the team plays and wins together, the coach calls the star player's number to maximize the likelihood that the team will win. It can be a lot of pressure to come through "in the clutch" unless the star player is 1) capable, 2) motivated, and 3) empowered to succeed.
The same is supposed to be true of Israel; this is why Israel is chosen. The prayers of Israel are supposed to be answered because those of the House of Israel are (supposed to be) spiritual "stars" in the world. People are supposed to be able to look at our example, observe our competency with spirituality and faith, and inspire others to have faith in God because we have faith in God!
In order to step up to those "big leagues", any prayers that we offer up on the strength of God's promises must acknowledge things as they are (usually having gone awry or fallen short), including one's role in it. And, although conspicuously absent in Nehemiah's prayer, one thing that we should include in our prayers is the solicitation of forgiveness for our shortcomings. It's not enough to simply acknowledge them; we must understand and recognize that it is a problem (and why), and truly be sorry about it! As Jesus taught, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." The song says, "I don't serve Him as I should, I don't deserve all of His good. So many things are not as they should be, still God is so good to me!"
Admitting to our shortcomings, and further, asking for forgiveness makes us accountable for our end of the bargain. After that, it is up to us to have unwavering faith in God's promises! After all, if God kept the "else" part, scattering an entire nation around the world, why can't we believe or accept that He would or could honor the good things? But, we shy away from the accountability. We don't want to admit that we're wrong, and sadly, we don't want to change.
This is where the "participatory" part of "salvation" comes in. Often, prayer indicates a desire for change. As we have discussed, God's promises usually include a clause, "If you do, I will do." If we follow this Divinely-established pattern, shouldn't the change we desire from God (i.e. a promise of sustenance or deliverance) be matched by some pledge or promise to change the self? A powerful way to indicate our willingness to change is to admit to our shortcomings. The implication is, if I admit that something within me is not as it should/could be, then I will do something to change/fix it.
We are God's children. We should be able to trust His word, and we can! But, more importantly, is God be able to trust ours?
1See Exodus chapter 15.
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