Good Promises

A few days ago I finished reading Joshua. I had forgotten how boring sections of Joshua could be!! That is the book that goes through all of the division of the Promised Land to distribute among the tribes, and my brain doesn't work such that it can grasp all of those references. Even if I knew where those towns were, I don't know that I could truly grasp the divisions. I could take one look at a map and get it, but not through reading the words. Several times I was tempted to skip over that section, but I just felt that I needed to read on through it. I'm glad I did, because if I'd skipped it, I would have missed something special.

It was one of those verses I've read many times before, and when I read it the other day, it stood out to me, but did not yet truly impact me. The verse was Joshua 21:45 which reads, “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”

As the day progressed, I was able to share the verse with a friend, which showed that it was starting to work its way into my heart. But it wasn't until yesterday that I truly realized the impact of the verse on my own life and heart. An off-hand question from my husband set the ball rolling, and the amazement of how God had fulfilled so many promises just washed over me in a brand new way.

We were walking through Wal-Mart picking up a few things we needed to continue setting up the house. Out of the blue Doug asked me what the five hundred dollars in our savings account was for. I nearly exploded! "What five hundred dollars?!" I asked, my tone almost sounding as if I were challenging his very sanity. He grew kind of sheepish and said that all he knew was that our account listing online was showing that we still had five hundred plus dollars in that savings account. My mind flew through the times over the past months when I'd been paying bills and handling transfers, trying to figure out where the money came from. Without looking back through all of our transactions, the only thing my mind could conceive was that somehow I'd never transfered the money to cover our bills as planned. Sure enough, after looking back over it all, that's exactly what had happened. To really show you the significance of this, let me take you back a few months.

As we left our church in Joiner, AR, for the last time in mid-February, we were full of the promises of our God. He had been very clear in leading us away from Joiner. Although it was a hard step, both for us and the church, we knew we had to follow in obedience. Our very first Sunday away from Joiner was actually spent here in Monticello where Doug was filling the pulpit that morning. We left here thinking this was a wonderful church and town, and we began to wonder what it would be like if God were to call us down here.

As for our finances, we knew we'd have enough money to make it until May 1, and then Joiner gave us an incredible going-away gift which added another four weeks to the estimation and would still leave enough money to buy the girls' school curriculum for the fall. We felt that we'd surely be in a new position by the end of May, so everything would be perfect!

Then reality began to sink in. Doug's truck died on the side of the interstate as he was heading to work one day. The repairs cost over $800. Storms damaged our roof, and we ended up borrowing $300 of the school money to add to the insurance money to get the roof take care of. Gas prices skyrocketed and we cringed every time we filled the van. Various trips added up, and although we always had the money on hand to pay for the gas, we wondered how much that was chipping away at the overall supply. Time passed and nothing seemed to be progressing with any of the resumes Doug had out. He began to apply for secular jobs with no results. Our For Sale By Owner sign in the front yard brought no genuine interest in the house. The promises God had made always remained in the back of our minds, but sometimes we wondered if they were truly God's promises or if they were our own conceived notions. It was a frightening time.

As we watched our finances, we realized that there would be no school money left over. The $500 set aside to finish paying for the curriculum needs would be used up when I paid bills June 17, and even that wasn't going to be enough to meet all of our financial needs. By this time we already had a date set with Calvary to come in view of a call, but we knew the move wouldn't take place until early July. We had no idea where the money was going to come from, but we could do nothing other than trust our Lord for His provision.

As I paid bills that night, I realized that we didn't need the $500 that week. I looked ahead and knew we'd need it the next week. But, evidently when I paid bills the next week I didn't need it either! By the time I paid bills on July 1, I guess I'd forgotten the money was even still there! I remember wondering why we were tighter financially than I expected, and I was concerned about our first week or so here in Monticello before getting everything ironed out with paychecks here. But, I didn't transfer any money.

So, here we are - it's more than a month later, and the money is still sitting there waiting to be used to pay for the school books (they'll be here next week, by the way!). We never had a problem paying our bills. In fact, we never even had the stress of hoping that a deposit would post before a bill cleared!

“Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of [the Hibbard family] failed; all came to pass.”

I challenge you to look back over the last days, weeks, months, and years of your life - whatever it takes to see how God has fulfilled His promises to you. I guarantee the fulfillment is there. Maybe you're receiving those promises and need to be encouraged to grab on tight so you'll have them ready when days grow dark. Maybe you're in the middle of the waiting right now and need the encouragment of remembering He WILL fulfill those promises. Maybe you're at the end of a set of promises and need to remember to be thankful. Maybe you're watching someone else struggle and need to offer encouragement to them. Whatever the case may be, just remember, they all will come to pass!