Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who …keep their promises even when it hurts.
Psalm 15:1,4b
Keeping one’s promises made to God, self, close friends or family is one of humanities greatest challenges. I don’t have to ponder too long to recognize times I’ve neglected to follow-through with a commitment to a spiritual discipline, or when I desired to divulge information entrusted to me in confidence.
Keep your promise, Patty, even when it hurts,
even when you yearn to offload the burden,
even when reason tells you it’s no big deal.
As always, God’s instruction through His word proved timely. I recently deleted a TV channel subscription. No big deal—sounds fairly benign right? It was just a silly subscription. I ordered the channel because I wanted to check out a new series. It sucked me into its drama—full of action, cliff-hangers, mystery, romance and suffering. I enjoyed the time period it was set in. Each episode left me in suspense. How would the problems resolve in the next episode?
A few of the programs, however, included content I found myself fast-forwarding out of conviction and disgust. One episode in particular assaulted me with the volume of shocking, inappropriate content.
Last week, after staying up too late to watch an episode, I gathered for an early-morning prayer gathering at our church. My husband shared from a passage in the Gospel of John where Jesus performed his first miracle: turning water into wine at a wedding reception. Jesus’ mom, Mary, approached the concerned servants, who had just discovered they were out of wine (a deep source of embarrassment to the host in that time period). She spoke five simple words to them, “Do whatever he tells you.” John 2:5. You may be familiar with what happened next: Jesus told them to fill all of the empty 20-30 gallon jugs with plain ole’ water. Then he simply instructed them to dip their ladles into the water jugs, and up came the most exquisite wine served at the wedding.
Gary challenged our prayer group to find a quiet spot in the room, to simply listen to God’s voice and then obey Mary’s instruction: “Do whatever he tells you.” Out of the blue, I sensed Jesus prompting me to delete my subscription. I’m not going to lie—I was hesitant. But God there are four more seasons. I’ll never know how…
I couldn’t shake God’s gentle nudging, “I have more for you to do.” So—in that moment I deleted the subscription—and that was the end of it.
WRONG!
I’m happy to admit, I did delete the subscription within that same hour. However, I second-guessed my action the entire day. Keeping my promise was another issue altogether. Had I made a rash decision?
It was a show you really enjoyed.
Just continue to fast-forward anything questionable.
Wow, you will never know how this series ends.
Just check to see if the channel may still be active.
Maybe you can squeeze in one more episode this evening.
Keep your promises even when it hurts.
Boy, sometimes it stinks to be human. You may laugh as you read this. I actually rolled my eyes. Why is it so difficult for me to walk in unquestioning obedience, to keep my promises to God, to myself, to others? Maybe you don’t wrestle with this embarrassingly base level of obedience. Maybe your act of promise-keeping involves remaining loyal in another area of your life—with your thoughts, your relationships, your habits, your heart, your tongue.
Maybe it involves refusing to gossip, or having the final word in an argument, or following through on an act of kindness, or staying in your marriage, or in a friendship, or fleeing from a temptation or addiction.
Regardless of what The Promise looks like for you, I pray for strength as you strive toward obeying whatever it is God prompts you to do. That source of strength comes from His power at work within us:
May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. 2 Thessalonians 1:11b
Jesus makes a promise to those who respond in obedience to His voice: Every time we respond, we enter His presence in a tangible way.
When we do whatever He tells us, the waters of the mundane turn into the miraculous wine of the Master’s touch.
Beauty Awaits…
Patty
Photo by Andrea Tummons on Unsplash