God’s Promises—How We Can Know They’re True

When someone makes us a promise, it’s always best to give them the benefit of the doubt. Might as well believe them. Unless, of course, they have a history of fibbing to you.

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It happened again to me not long ago. A man I know shook my hand and said, “Let’s grab a coffee soon; I’ll call you.” I didn’t say it, but I wanted to reply: “No, you won’t. But thanks.” Does that ever happen for you? Honestly, it doesn’t take many times for someone to fail keeping a promise, and I lose confidence in the person.

The only way we can trust that people will keep their word is if they have kept their word.

The same is true of God’s promises.

God’s Promises —Can We Trust Them?

When parents, pastors, and people we know, love, and trust fail to keep a promise, it does more than disappoint us. It can disillusion us terribly. And if we’re not careful, the letdown can turn us into cynics who trust no one.

Including God.

The pain of broken promises paints a thick coat of distrust around our hearts, so that when we hear about God’s promises, our kneejerk response is doubt. After all, it’s one thing to doubt that someone will call you for coffee. How then are we expected to believe God can do the miraculous?

God understands our reluctance.

God’s Promises —How We Can Know They’re True

Jesus’ words to His disillusioned disciples illustrate why we can believe God’s promises:

I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. —John 14:29

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Again, the only way we can trust that people will keep their word is if they have kept their word. What’s true of our trust of people is true of our trust of God.

• By the law of chance, it would require two hundred billion earths, populated with four billion people each, to produce one person who could achieve one hundred accurate prophecies without any error in sequence.
• Yet the Bible records not just 100, but more than 300 fulfilled promises in the first coming of Jesus Christ alone. The Hebrew Scriptures record many prophecies about the Messiah that Jesus fulfilled.

God promised, and God’s promises came true. Just like He said:

I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—and I will not lie to David—that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky. —Psalm 89:34-37

How assuring it is to read God’s Word with confidence, knowing that from a verifiable past God has always kept His promises.

So we understand that He always will.

Tell me what you think: What makes you trust someone when they tell you something? To leave a comment, just click here.