Promise: Reason to Expect Something

God’s way is perfect.

All the Lord’s promises prove true.

He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

(Psalm 18:30 NLT)

The first promise besides "that whosever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life" that I "claimed" in my youth was from the book of Hebrews. I found the promise in the Gideon's Bible, when I went to Buffalo for my Air Force physical. It was my first time away from home, my first physical as a teen-aged girl and I was embarking on the adventure of my life. 

I had known Jesus from Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. He was my Savior, but I was just beginning to understand that He wanted to be the Lord of my life. After graduation, on the advice of some mentors from church I met with the Air Force recruiter. My youth leaders taught me to seek His will through prayer and Scriptures. So when I found the Gideon's Bible in my hotel room, I came across a page with topics, like loneliness. Under that topic, I looked up verses on trust.

As I read the words from Hebrews 13:5b, I experienced the personal promise of Jesus that He would never leave nor forsake me. And time after time, as I left home for basic training and being stationed in the Philippines, I would rehearse that promise in my heart.

The other life long promise He gave me that night in the hotel was a directive and a promise: 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:5,6 NASB)

Whenever I was lonely for home or afraid for my future, God would bring this promise back to mind. A mere two years after God gave the promise to me, I would be surprised that someone else knew this promise as well.

I was stationed in Del Rio, Texas at Laughlin AFB during the spring of 1986, and I was dating this handsome fellow. And I was praying hard to know if it was God's will for us to become a married couple. One day he left for a trip, and I borrowed his car. He left a note encouraging me that we would trust God together and at the end he wrote, Proverbs 3:5,6! (I had never told him that it was my guiding promise!)

We were engaged by May of that year and exchanged vows on October 18, 1986. (Twenty-seven years ago today.) God keeps his promises.

What promise has God made to you? Have you ever written it on a 3x5 card, like Pam Farrel suggests in her book, 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time? 

Here's a creative way her family shared promises one year:

One Christmas my mother gave every daughter and daughter-in-law in the family the same quiet time book and journal. When we saw each other throughout the year, we shared promises that we had gleaned from God for our own lives--and each other's.

Creating your own Bible promise book can help you navigate the pain of grief...or loss. God knows what your pain is and His Word can be a healing balm.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam www.Love-wise.com