Keeping His Promises

Life is hard. You can agree to that, right? God gives us challenges that sometimes seem impossible to beat. He puts us in situations that we may not want to be put into. Sometimes, well, most of the time, it’s hard to see how we are going to make it. How are we supposed to have hope when our life is completely broken?

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Here in this well-known verse, God promises us a future. He promises us hope. Do you believe this? Do you believe that God can pull you out of the valley that you are in and give you hope?

It’s easy to answer these questions with “yes.” I mean, if the Bible says it, I believe it’s true! Yet, how easy is it to actually believe this. How easy is it to believe that you will make it through this struggle with no doubt?

“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Mark 9:24

It’s hard to truly believe something with no “buts” and no questioning. That was how the father of the son possessed with spirits felt. He believed that Jesus could heal his son, but “what if.” What if He could not?

I think that we have all been in that situation. We have all believed something but still felt insecure or a little unsure.

When we have a promise from God, there are no “buts.” There are no “what ifs.” When God promises something, He WILL fulfill it. He is a faithful God. We just need the faith to truly believe this.

A lot of the times, when faced with a problem, we focus solely on the problem. This will probably not turn out very good!

Think back on your life for a moment. Have you ever focused on something negative (think simple) and got worried or stressed out all of a sudden? I know that I deal with this all the time.

The other day, I went to take the test to get my driving permit. For those of you who may not know me, I don’t like to fail. I really don’t like to fail tests. Yet, I knew walking in that this test was going to be difficult and there was a chance that I could fail it. The more I thought about failing, the more I got worried. All these worries and questions spun in my mind. I began to practically panic, but the moment that I took my eyes off the problem, I calmed down.

You see, when you become so focused on the problem, it’s easy to make it feel extreme. It’s easy to feel like there is no escape. As the pastor said yesterday, we seem to exaggerate our problems. We make them seem a whole lot worse than they actually are. This is when it’s time to change our focus.

When you find yourself feeling like there is no hope. Remember this verse: