Promise Keeper

Hi everyone, how have you been? I hear a lot of "Fine" in my head and I imagine that is the majority of the mental responses as you read this. Saying fine was a reflex action for most of you, despite the fact that some of you are probably going through one situation or the other. We assume that the other party isn't really interested in our real feelings. "How are you" is assumed to be more of a greeting than a question.

Of course, it's not possible to give the asking party an earful each time you get asked the question but even when it is, we usually don't for reasons stated earlier. I've had a relatively easy, taking-it-easy kind of week. I then woke up this morning to an email that startled me and gave me a bit of concern. Thinking about it, I realized why I had felt led to write about keeping promises this week. My reaction to that email was - Lord, you are a promise keeper. I'm trusting you to keep your promise on this matter.

Friends, a lot of the time we say things we don't mean and we assume God is the same. He's not. His Word is Yea and Amen. He doesn't say what He doesn't mean. You can take His promises to the bank. We need to emulate that same characteristic. People need to be able to know that when you say a thing, you mean it and will ensure that you fulfill that which you have said. Every word we speak is a promise and that's why we shouldn't speak idle words. We need to be deliberate about our words, choosing and using them carefully.

Words can't be taken back. They leave an imprint on the mind of the hearer and set an expectation unless the hearer already believes that the speaker can't be relied upon to fulfill his or her words. Keeping promises requires conscious effort. One of the reasons I have been able to be consistent so far with weekly posts on Incredible Courage is the fact that I sign off each time saying "Till next week". That's a promise I've made to you as a reader of this blog and I don't want to break it. So if I ever sign off by saying till next time, know that I'm planning a potential missed appointment, lol. Next time is very vague and undefined.

"Thou will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You" is a promise of God that's kept me most of my life. Whenever I find myself in situations that I would rather not be in, I remind myself of that promise and I focus on His goodness and mercy and that calms me down. I remind myself of the times He's come through and that gives me an assurance that I am only passing through whatever the situation is.

In my dealings with other people, I constantly remind myself that my words must count. Even when joking, I try to ensure that jokes don't cross a certain line because my Yoruba people have a saying that "it is in the midst of play that we learn the truth". Sometimes the things we joke about actually reveal our deep thoughts that we wouldn't ordinarily mention. If those thoughts are wrong, or would potentially hurt someone, we need to ensure that we contain them in order not to hurt someone else. 

I do a bit of Counselling, both formally and informally. In Counselling with people, I also am careful what I promise them in terms of actions after our discussions. It's important to me that if I say I will follow up with someone, that I actually do. If I say I will pray along with someone, I must ensure I do so. For this reason, sometimes one has to not make certain promises even though you can see that the other person is expecting that promise and just wants it said, even if you don't mean it. 

Friends, let's ask God to help us be more like Him. Let's be deliberate about our words and make them count. We are God's arms through which He touches other people. Allow Him to use you, make the extra effort to stand with someone. If you promise to pray, do so. Show some love and care, in your words and in your actions.

I watched a lovely sunset yesterday and I was reminded of God's promise that seed time and harvest time will not cease while the earth remains. Plant a seed this week. I will catch you again next week.

Till then, Blessings on you and yours.