Promises, Promises

It has been a month since I've been married and it seems like so much in my life has changed since then. I moved, have new responsibilities, and matured. Also, this week marked my third week as a school counseling intern at a CPS high school. I got both the man and the internship God promised. Looking back to before the wedding and the engagement, it is strange because it all seems so foreign. Now that I am here, it feels like I've always been here. I have to think hard just to remember all the times I was afraid and in tears, frustrated and uncertain whether I even wanted what God had promised because it hurt so much to wait without seeing what lie ahead. 

      A verse that has become important to me the last month has been Hebrews 13:11. It says, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful" (NIV). I am blessed to be able to say that I have lived to see many of the promises God made me come to pass. There are still some I am waiting on, but this verse reminds me to hold on.

      I know how difficult it is to wait without knowing whether we will actually live to see if God will come through on His word. I remember questioning His promises and thinking they would be less because I thought I was worth less. God has given me more than I deserve, but that is not why I keep having faith that I will see the other promises He's made be fulfilled. I know God better than I ever have. He truly is faithful and He loves us more than we could ever understand or imagine. He doesn't say things just to say them, or do things just to do them. 

       I hold on because I know that I can trust Him. Even if I don't understand the outcome of a promise, I know that He has something up His sleeve. I just trust Him to love me through the pain. He sees more than my lifetime. He never forgets His word, even when we are no longer in the picture. He remembered His promise to Abraham-even after he died, God still fulfilled it. Psalm 105 talks about how faithful to Abraham and the promise God was. It also says, "He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations" (verse 8).

       I've realized that it is selfish to only hold onto a promise I will benefit from. I love my God and I want to hold on tight no matter how close to the end or how impossible it is for me to see it because I know that He has something good (for someone) in store and that doing so will honor His name. I can't wait to get to Heaven and see the fruit of my waiting for the promises I didn't think were remembered. But I also can't wait to see what the fruit (beyond the blessings I see) was for the ones I did wait for and see fulfilled.