"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God."
2 Corinthians 1:20
I am confident that all of us have many promises that God has given us. Of course every promise in the Bible is for us, but beyond that, we have all received promises regarding our future, our circumstances, our relationships with others, and more. Over the course of time, our faith may waver because we don't see the promises becoming realities. So the entire purpose of my words today is to remind us that every promise of God is still true.
God gives us the promises. I know that you have received promises from Him that are very personal. They may have come through a person who shared with you what God has spoken to them about you. It may have come through spending time in the Word and prayer. If the Holy Spirit gave you the promise and gave you the awareness to realize that God was the author, then the promise is still 'Yes.' God does not change his mind. He does not withhold his promises because we have done something wrong. What God promises is not dependent on what we do. They are given to us purely out of His incredible love for us.
I know that our faith wears thin sometimes. As time passes, it is more difficult to stand firm in God's promises. I know people who have written down promises years ago, but have yet to see them. Does this mean that God is a liar? Not at all. His promises are still 'Yes.' God's timing is his alone. We cannot force him to move. We must realize that the promises God has given us were set in place before the creation of the world. They were already a part of our destinies before we were born. In that fact we take courage and comfort. God's words are true and have been set for us in advance.
There remains but one thing to do: We must speak the 'Amen' to all of God's promises. By doing this, you are simply saying, "God, I agree with your promises for me." Too many times, we have tried to do things to earn the blessing of God. This never works. Instead, it usually binds us to self-imposed rules. All God asks of us is to simply agree with his plan. This is faith. It takes faith to say, 'Amen' to God's promise. But if we do, we are sustained until the fulfillment. Be encouraged today. In God, all his promises are "Yes and Amen!"
