Advent: Week Three
14. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
15. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
16. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
-Jeremiah 33: 14-16
We have to talk about how incredible God’s promises are.
I don’t know about you, but I have been lied to, deceived, and betrayed by people more times than I can count or remember. Sometimes it feels like a daily occurrence! Malicious lies, fortunately, are a rarity in my life these days. I have done my best to limit the number of people in my life who blatantly lie (who has time for them? Not I!), but that hasn’t stopped some of the other nonsense from slipping through the cracks.
What hurts most, almost as much as someone lying to me directly, is when a promise is made but not upheld. Has someone ever promised you something but didn’t follow through? Or did they prioritize something else over their promise to you? It stings, like a wasp that you can’t swat away. It reframes the image you have of that person in your life, and if you’re anything like me you stop and (over)think about the person’s character, if there were any warning signs leading up to their behavior, etc.
This has happened to me many times within friendships and relationships. I still have the promise ring of a man who told me he would one day marry me, only to betray my heart and trust. Every once in a while, especially when I’ve been misled, I take that ring out of its hiding place and look at it. I exam the gemstones, the intricate grooves, and the shape. I no longer feel any connection to the man who gave it to me, and as I look at it I’m reminded that the promises he made were superficial. As odd as it might sound, this piece of jewelry serves as a reminder of the bleakness of a godless world.
The world feels dark, and this season of early nights and late mornings doesn’t help. But in that darkness we have the greatest light: JESUS. Forget a candle in the darkness, Christ is like a supernova! But let’s backtrack for a second and focus on what leads up to Jesus’ birth: this season is the eternal reminder of promises fulfilled. The coming of the Messiah wasn’t documented by one person, or in one time, or in one circumstance. God promised him throughout the Old Testament, there were hundreds of years of waiting, and then we read a promised fulfilled as the angel Gabriel tells a young woman she will be the mother of the promised one.
If you are in a season right now as you read this where you are waiting on God for something, rest assured that God’s promises to you are the only true promises. What God has for you will not lie or betray you, because He is good. He is more than the promise ring, and His choice to give His only son for our sins is a very physical, visceral demonstration of the abounding love that God has for us. No other promise will ever live up to the baby in the manger.
In two (very) short weeks, we will gather to adore and revere the baby miracle given to us. We will congregate in churches across the world and sing praises, because God delivered on the absolute best promise, one that surpasses all others and all understanding, because He loves us. Yes, people will lie and betray us. Yes, we will be persecuted. But I think we can pause for a moment to breathe and forgive, because despite our many shortcomings,
GOD IS GOOD.