You Can Trust God’s Promises.

Rainbows.

Symbols of God’s promises.

Harbingers of hope.

Specifically, the rainbow is a reminder of God’s promise to never again destroy the earth by flood. We can count on it. (see Genesis 9)

The Bible is filled with God’s promises. I refer to them often. And here’s the reason. It’s easy for me to lean on my emotions. I often want to act or react based on how I feel at the moment. Even when I count to ten, give it a few minutes, or even sleep on it, I still tend to rely on me.

I lean on my emotions when I’m not considering God’s promises.

We could use many examples of applying God’s promises to our lives, but I want to pick one that hits me occasionally. Jealousy. Now jealousy could look like a lot of different things. For me, I don’t often dismiss others of whom I am jealous. I don’t tend to want what they have just because they have it. Nor do I act a different way to someone who has something I don’t have.

Here’s the way I wear jealousy. I go through a process of rationalization, working to convince myself I need what they have. Sometimes I go through LOTS of work. I may be totally wrong about cause and effect here, but I know how I act after watching this happen over and over again in my life. There are times I convince myself that what I thought I needed, I need. Problem is, I may not actually need it.

Even when I get to the end of the process and realize I don’t need it, I’ve spent time working through making the decision. More often than not, time I could have spent doing more value-added activities. Activities like studying Scripture, praying, working on my book, giving deeper thought to my blog posts, building my writer’s platform.

Instead, I’ve spent more than a few more hours on researching whether I need a zero-turn or tractor style riding mower. And I’ll mention just to you because I don’t want everyone to know, there are two perfectly good, well-running, self-propelled walk behind mowers in my shed at this very moment. And I am healthy enough to walk behind them when cutting. But still… if I don’t need it, why do so many other people have them?

And off I go—again.

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I’m reminded of a little book I purchased a long time ago. My Bible Promise Book¹. I flip to the section under jealousy. There I find a reference to James 3.

“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” (James 3:16, NASB)

So, when I’m jealous or seeking something selfishly, there is disorder. How true. In my situation, the results of jealousy look like lost time, loss of productivity, guilt, and frustration. After reading the Scripture in James 3:16, I want to know what’s available other than disorder and evil things. I keep reading.

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy.” (James 3:17)

After meditating on God’s promise, I’m spiritually freed to pursue higher activities. It’s difficult to explain, but in some way, I’m reminded that spending time on what God has called me to do brings the opposite of disorder. It brings purity, peace, gentleness, and good fruits.

You would be right if you sent in a comment reminding me that James was speaking to early churches. Individuals and groups were in conflict. Many were acting in worldly ways toward one another. James warned them of the consequences. I agree. However, I find that God can use His Word to speak to my situation even though I’m not living in 40 A.D. and dealing with a brother in disagreement.

What about you? Do you find hope in God’s promises?

I’d love to hear about it.

Today’s feature photo comes from a “photo-a-day” challenge I pursued several years ago. The photo inspires the topic. For me, the posts challenge my creativity, writing discipline, and dependence on God for His message. My prayer is that you find hope in God’s Word, and that you’ll share your hope with others.

¹ Barbour and Company, Inc., The Bible Promise Book (Uhrichsville, Barbour and Company, Inc.)