Promises Fulfilled

“His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” Psalm 91:4

How many people have promised you something, only to not fulfill that promise?

Friends...family…teachers. People you look up to and trust.

Whether the broken promise is due to circumstances out of their control, or a decision to not follow through, it never feels good to be on the receiving end of a broken promise. It’s not fun to be on the giving end of one either.

God has made promises to us. Eternal promises that nothing in this world can take away from us.

He also makes some promises to us during our life on earth. Not that life will be easy…it never is.

•  Freedom from condemnation. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1
•  Help for us. “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13
• Patience with us. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

God promises all believers certain promises…and then there are the promises He whispers into your ear, that are just for your particular situation.

Take a few moments to sit in silence, listening for God. What is God promising you in your situation today?

Restful Productivity

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28

If you were going to create something that would be able to be productive, like a robot or a virtual personal assistant, would you create it with the need to be shut down on occasion?

Or would you want it to run 24/7?

In this generation of smart phones, when was the last time you turned yours off? Hint: Airplane mode doesn't count.

God started it.

God created us with a need to rest. I know a lot of us wonder why; why can't we have all 24 hours each day to get things done? Why would God create us with the disadvantage of tiredness?

Could it be because our tendency to become tired leads us to dependency on God?

If we never got tired, we might actually buy into the belief that we can do it all.

 

An Outline for Work and Rest     

 

The story of creation, aside from being a wonderful account for how God formed the world we know, teaches us two things about work:

1. God focused on one thing every day. Instead of going in many different directions to "get it all done", God instead created each section of our world individually. Day one: Light to separate day and night. Day two: Sky. Day three: Land to separate the seas...etc.
2. There was a day focused on rest. "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." Genesis 2:2 There was a separation point between the work of creation and the following days. God did not need to rest; He was setting an example for us to follow. As we finish one project or goal, we need to step back and rest and reflect before jumping into the next assignment.

 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. Psalm 23:1

Even though we become tired and need rest, we can also rejoice in the fact that in Christ, we lack nothing.