God Will Never Leave You

I don’t trust. Ask my husband of nearly four years, and he’ll tell you I say that almost daily. “I don’t trust.” I don’t put my hope in much of anything because I’ve been burned when I’ve trusted people. Don’t make a promise to me because I know you can’t keep it. I know myself well enough to know that you’re also human and you also say “I promise” and those words flow off our lips like the blasphemy they are.

The concept of promises has left me jaded, and I admit when pastors start talking about promises, it more often than not goes in one ear and out the other. I imagine it’s easy for them to say the Lord will keep His promises when they’ve not been left without security, when they’ve got an “in” with God because their prayer life is better and they’re paid to read the Bible and be in a church with the constant reminder of holiness thrown in their face.

I read Jesus’ words as a pre-teen, “But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one,” (Matthew 5:34-37), and I felt vindicated. It fueled my fire to commit to my heart that I’d never believe a promise made, but regard it all as blasphemy from the evil one.

But I’ve been a hypocrite, letting “I promise” fall off my mouth like the blasphemy it is. When I married my husband nearly four years ago, I made vows I’d never keep. I vowed to honor, cherish, love, and stand by him in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, in paydays and after all the bills are paid. More times than I can count, I’ve not honored and cherished him, my love has been built on sand instead of the firm foundation of Christ, and I’ve broken my vows to him.

The Father knows us better than we know ourselves, and yet we think that we know us better. We call our Father God a monster when he tells us not to make promises, and then we’re like Peter mourning because we denied him and heard the rooster crow three times, just like he said we would (Matthew 26:34, Matthew 26:69-75).

God Is Not Like Us

But God is not like us. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts not like ours (Isaiah 55:8). So when God makes a promise to us, he can and will keep it. God never has to look into our eyes, sorrowfully apologizing for breaking a promise to us, because he has never broken a promise to us and he never will, for “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (1 Timothy 2:13).

If he cannot disown himself, and he remains faithful, then we can take him at his word, whatever that word may be. We can trust in his promises, for they last and are fulfilled in their proper time. Jesus was promised to us after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, and it took thousands of years, but it happened. He fulfilled that promise, the promise, to us, and now we are free to believe him in whatever else he says.

Essential Promises

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing about some of these essential promises we can rest in. The first of these being found in Hebrews 13:5.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”

Have you noticed that as a result of our broken trust and promises, we tend to hoard things to ourselves? Resources, knowledge, goods, food, clothes, books (right here!), or whatever we are afraid we’ll lose? We make impulse decisions for our good because we are afraid of what we’ll lose, and all of that is because we don’t believe this promise.

We read this Scripture and then live it as if it says,

“Keep a savings account full of money and a house full of things you find that will make you feel secure and happy because God has said, ‘One day I may leave you; one day I may forsake you.’”

We bust our back because we believe that God is going to leave us or forsake us. It’s not always on the surface, and oftentimes can be hidden beneath the surface.

A lot of times, those of us who have lived through some tough stuff such as abuse, being left by a parent, or losing a friend or partner may have a hard time with this Scripture because this hasn’t been our experience before, and it seems too vulnerable and scary to believe that what has happened before won’t happen again. But this Scripture gives us a hope through a promise that tells us we don’t have to hoard something to fill our voids, no matter what size or shape they may be, no matter what kind of calamity we feel we’re living in.

If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and we believe that God fulfills his promise, we can boldly approach this promise and cling to it with all that we have, because God has never broken a promise that he has laid out for us in Scripture.

If you believe that, you can rest secure knowing that even when you break your promise to your family, to your friends, to your coworkers, or to yourself, God will not leave you. God will not forsake you.

He'll Never Leave, Won't Forsake

When someone in their mortal self breaks a promise they made to you, or they walk out, I want you to know first and foremost, that is not on you. And no matter how many times that happens, please know that God’s promise in Hebrews 13:5 is for you. God will never leave you. God will never forsake you, and until the end of your days, God is there.

And if you find yourself having broken a promise you made to God, he will restore you too, just as he forgave and restored Peter (John 21:15-17, 1 John 1:9).

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance,” (2 Peter 3:9).

Take a moment now if something is weighing on you, perhaps a known broken promise you made, and do as the Scripture states, confess your sins to him, for “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

On your darkest nights and in your brightest days, the days you thought you’ve won, he’s just as true on the days you lost, the everlasting one. He’ll never leave, won’t forsake, His promises are true. Your heart and soul are tightly held by truth. He is true. He is truth. He is good.