The Promise!

I was hunting for a particular book inside my desk cupboard when my hand wrapped around one. I pulled my hand out and found in it a fat little notebook, filled with pages and pages of prayer requests, written during a 25 year period from 1991 - 2015. Soon, I started to pray through those old forgotten lists of prayers. Like a beautiful bird that landed on a window sill, one entry leapt out of the page and landed with a ping of delight into my heart. 

16.05.97. A Promise for our family - Deut 31:8!

My heart quickened and my eyes danced as I remembered! 1997 was the year we had left Sri Lanka's shores for Malaysia. Exciting times they were but also full of uncertainty! 

What did the future of our little family look like? 

Would we be returning to Sri Lanka three years later as planned? 

Where would our family plant our roots? 

Would God take care of us? 

God's response to my questions came through a promise in a greeting card that I received from a friend. 

"The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. 
He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not fear.
Do not be dismayed." Deut 31:8 

What reassurance it brought me! And then ... that same verse kept popping up all over the place. Details evade me now but ... in a matter of days, it appeared FIVE times! And like a little balloon that was blown bigger and bigger until it became a large, bright ball, God's words of re-assurance became stronger and stronger, filling my heart with hope!

Today, it's exactly 25 years since I received His promise! I didn't know then what those 25 years would bring. We've had good times, great times, fun times, even brilliant times. As a threesome. With extended family. With friends. But ... there have also been many perplexing times, times of great need, times of testing and trial, times of heartache and tears.  I can now testify to the fact that He has been faithful! Yes, through it all, our Father has kept watch over us. He has held us in His arms. He has kept His promise. He has been with us, just like He said!

Five years ago, when I was going through what seemed to be the toughest season of my life, my Heavenly Father gave me a similar verse. "Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious Right Hand." Isaiah 41:10

Like a trusting toddler sitting on her father's broad shoulders, I was able to keep going despite the challenges I faced, for His Word sustained me. Just the other day, I found it hard to trust God with a particular circumstance. I was like a little child, stumbling in the dark, not sure where to place my foot on a steep and rugged pathway. I prayed, asking God to help me! A short while later, as I scrolled through Facebook, that same verse, Isaiah 41:10 smiled at me through a friend's status. And then again ... a few minutes on, there it was a second time - on another friend's status. It grabbed my attention and I heard God's whisper. I looked up and smiled at Him.

"Lord, You know that when I hear a promise twice, I often ask you for a third occurrence to confirm that it definitely comes from You. Would you you send it to me again, Papa? Please? "

A couple of hours later, I heated my lunch and began to munch on my rice and veggies. I opened the book I'd been enjoying for a few weeks. That day though, the book suddenly seemed boring. I closed it and searched through my latest library books, grabbing a novel that looked interesting. I opened a drawer and tugged at the bookmarks I kept in there. One came out from the middle of the pile and this is what it said: "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you." Isaiah 41:10

The third time. Just as I asked ! Wow God! Wow! Thank You! What stunned me then was that I'd been enjoying my earlier story until that day, but I suddenly tired of it. If I hadn't, I would not have looked for a bookmark! If I hadn't found a new bookmark - I would not have received my third time promise. And that promise was a direct answer to my cry for help that morning. His response? "I will strengthen you. I will help you." Exactly what I asked for! 

What an awesome God! 

His ways are always good.

His ways are beyond human understanding! 

These are such tough times, the world over. Life is hard. Strife. War. Crises in personal lives. Many struggle to make it through another day. Perhaps you too are weary of the struggle as I confess I often am. Perhaps you wonder why our Father is not helping us, as we try to swim against the current. Fear not, dear friend! The promise He gave me 25 years ago is still true today. He has not promised us an easy life. But He has assured us that He would be with us. Every step of the way. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you, safe in His Mighty Hands.

May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May He lift the light of His countenance upon you and give you His peace.

And remember dear friend, no matter what happens, God is for you. So run into His arms and rest in Him. 

He will take care of you. Today. Tomorrow. Always!

"The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.

Though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me." Psalm 23:1,5

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." The Almighty God!

Hebrews 13:5