God is not man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 HCSB
God has made many promises throughout His holy Word. In the Old Testament God made covenants with Abraham, Moses and David. Abraham would not live to see God’s promise to him fulfilled, but God kept His promises.
In God’s covenant with Abraham, God’s promises were unconditional. This means God was the one doing all the promising and God only would deliver. He wasn’t asking anything of Abraham. He promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as stars in the sky and grains of sand on a seashore. He kept that promise.
The Mosaic covenant was a conditional covenant between God and the people of Israel. In this covenant found in Exodus 19-24, God promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. If you read the Old Testament, you will see that God kept His promise.
The Davidic covenant was unconditional. David wanted to build a temple for God, but God told him not to that He would let his son, Solomon, build it. God promised David that the Messiah would come from his lineage and tribe and would establish a kingdom that would last forever.
When it came to David’s son, Solomon, God put conditions on His promise to Solomon. God told Solomon that if he and his sons would walk in the Lord’s ways and be obedient to His commands, He would establish his royal throne over Israel forever. But He said in 1 Kings 11:6, “If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands, and if you go and serve other gods and worship them, I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, I will reject the temple, Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.”
Sometimes we see bad people commit evil acts and think they are getting away with it, but the Bible tells us in Psalm 37:10, “In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. Daniel 12:2 says, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Malachi 4:1 says the day is coming when all arrogant and evildoers will be stubble. They will be set ablaze.
As Christians, we are to endure. We are to be faithful and obedient till the end. God tells us in Philippians 4:13 that through His strength we can endure whatever we need to endure here on earth. We can remain faithful. Romans 2:7 tells us that if we are patient in well-doing and seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give us eternal life.
When we suffer while evil people prosper, it’s natural to become frustrated. But we must understand that God keeps His promises. We must also trust in God’s timing. We are told in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is not slow to fulfill His promises as what we consider to be slow, but He is patient. God wants all people, even the mean, hateful, evil people to come to Him. He wants them to repent. He gives them chances to do so.
We are also told in Romans 1:18-24 that man is without excuse if he chooses to reject God. We are told that God will give Him over to his evil desires.
My friend, God has promised for those who believe in Him and trust in Him that they will have eternal life with Him in heaven. But Jesus warned in Matthew 7:21-23 that not everyone who goes to church and claims to be a Christian will get into heaven. God sees the heart. He expects total surrender. If we love Him with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind, we will obey His commands and surrender our lives to Him.
My friend, there is a lot of uncertainty in this day and age. There is, however, several things of which we can be assured; God keeps His promises. God’s timing is perfect. We can trust in Him. We can surrender to Him and give Him control over our lives. When we do this, He will give us peace and joy and eternity with Him in heaven.
You can count on God because He keeps His promises.
Have a great day!