Promises That Never Fail

This past year has been a difficult one and a demanding one for many people. Here we are, starting a new year, and perhaps wondering just what lies before us. It seems that so many things we used to depend on are no longer dependable. The very foundations of life are shaking. How easy it would be to throw up our hands and just give in; but we know that giving up never made any situation better. I think the answer to the problems of life today are found in some of the things that never shake and that never fail. I read in the Bible, “There has not failed one word of all His good promises…” (1 Kings 8:56).

These words were spoken by King Solomon when he dedicated the temple, and he was talking about the promises of God. “There has not failed one word of all His good promises.” You could never make that statement about the promises of men, because the promises of men do fail. How many international agreements have been signed, only to have them broken in a few years? Many treaties and contracts have failed and been broken; but the promises of God never fail.

This is a good note for the beginning of the new year: God has given us promises. But many people won’t settle for promises; they must have explanations or reasons. They are constantly asking, “Why?” God does not always give us explanations and reasons—but He does give us promises. And I’m glad He works this way, because explanations and reasons can never accomplish in our hearts what His promises can accomplish if we believe them.

Suppose you fall down the stairs and break an arm. You are taken to the hospital, the arm is X-rayed, and a cast put on. If the doctor brings you the X-ray and explains how the bone is broken, does that heal your arm or make it feel better? Of course not! It is when he sets the bone and puts on the cast that healing starts to take place. Well, explanations and reasons may enlighten your mind, but they can never heal a broken heart or dry the tears in your eyes. It takes the promises of God to do that.

Your Bible is filled with the promises of God. Many people think of the Bible as a book of laws and rules, but basically it is a book of promises. God has given us promises to meet every emergency and need of life. Scripture is filled with promises about prayer and wisdom and daily strength and God’s provision for every need. I encourage you to read your Bible daily and mark the promises that God gives you in its pages. I like to begin my day meditating on the Word of God. And day after day God gives me just the promise I need for that day. Often when facing emergencies and special demands I have turned to the Word of God and received promises that have sustained me during difficult times.

Yes, God loves us, and one evidence of His love is the Bible—the book that is filled with His promises. If you have been neglecting God’s promises, I urge you to open your Bible and start getting acquainted with the promises of God. No matter what your problem may be today, God has a special promise for you.

God’s promises never fail. We fail to lay hold of God’s promises—but His promises never fail. You and I have sometimes made promises that we may not have been able to keep. But that will never happen to God. He is too wise and too powerful ever to make a promise that He is incapable of fulfilling. If He ever made such a promise, it would make Him a liar. And the Bible tells us that God cannot lie.

I like to read the Old Testament Scriptures to see how God kept His promises to His people down through the centuries. He made some wonderful promises to Abraham about the land and about having a son, and for many years it seemed that His promises would not be fulfilled. But they were. God did give Abraham a son, and God did give the land of Canaan to the people of Israel. God promised Moses that He would care for the nation as they left Egypt, and God kept every word of His promise. When the people were hungry, He fed them; when they were thirsty, He gave them water to drink. When their enemies attacked them, God protected the nation and delivered them. Not one of His promises failed!

Then God raised up Joshua to lead the nation into the promised land, and He gave him the same promises He gave to Moses—and kept every one of them. God gave them victory after victory as they moved into the promised land, and in a few years they conquered the land and enjoyed their inheritance. But it wasn’t the strength of their armies that gave them the victory; it was their faith in the promises of God.

It encourages me to read the life of David and to see how God’s promises sustained him during his trials. Read the psalms of David that grew out of his difficult experiences and you will see that David learned to lean on the promises of God. No matter where you turn in the Old Testament, you will find men and women of faith who conquered because they believed the promises of God, and they learned that God’s promises never fail. This is true of the people in the New Testament as well: the apostles, the Christians in the early church. Read the four Gospels and the Book of Acts and you will meet people who did wonderful things for God’s glory simply because they believed the unfailing promises of God.

My friend, rest on God’s promises. They will never fail.

God doesn’t keep some of His promises; He keeps all of His promises. Not one of them will ever fail. To our human observation it may seem that some of His promises have failed, but this is not the case at all. God keeps His word; His promises will never fail...To be sure, there is a false way to claim the promises of God. There are those who twist the Scriptures and claim things that God never meant them to claim. But the acts of the foolish should not rob the wise of the treasures God has in His promises. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, and if you have a desire to glorify God, then you can let the Holy Spirit apply these promises to your life day after day.

I recall many years ago when I was in my first pastorate how God spoke to me from the Scriptures and gave me a promise for our church. We claimed that promise by faith, and the Lord saw us through a very difficult time. I remember, too, an experience when I was a very young believer. I had to make a decision about a job, and as I prayed, the Lord gave me a promise from the Word. I claimed that promise and acted upon it, and God took care of the rest. You and I should never say that the promises of God are only for the great men and women of God in the Bible. Through Jesus Christ, those promises belong to us. As you read Paul’s letters, you find him referring to promises in the Old Testament that were originally given to others, but that Paul applies to believers today.

All of God’s promises belong to His people, and all of them are going to be fulfilled. Not a one of them is going to fail. You may want to mark 1 Kings 8:56 in your Bible: “There has not failed one word of all His good promises.” Memorize this verse and turn to it when the going gets tough. Spend time very day in the Bible, listening to God’s voice and learning God’s promises. This new year will come alive with the power and blessing of God if you and I will only depend on His promises.

There are many things we do not know about 1979, but one thing we do know: during this next year, not one of God’s promises is going to fail.