By David W Cowan
If you find yourself here reading this post, you have started a series. How many times you return is up to you. How many teachings will be in this series is up to God.
I think that we can all agree that within God's Word there are many promises for His people and if God made a promise, He is not going to take it away or fail to live up to the promise. Unlike us, His children, He is always faithful and can never fail.
To stand on one of these promises, we must fully understand the promise and how it fits in with the nature of God who made the promise. There are many I have read and counted on over the last 50 years of my life and some, when I did, discouraged me because standing on them did not provide the results I had hoped. In every case, it was because I didn't understand the promise or failed to align myself with God's nature.
I first want to address Gods promise in Deuteronomy 31:6. Israel is getting ready to cross over the Jordan River, after refusing the first time and wandering through the desert, again, for all those years. Moses tells the people the word he received from God, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."
Now, some will say that was an Old Testament promise and doesn't apply to us of the New Covenant, but the Apostle Paul makes it plain in Hebrews 13:5 that we stand on that promise, too. He says to the church, "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"
Most believers have, at some point, stood on a promise because of some situation in their life, but not felt that things were getting any better, like God was moving away from them instead of closer; ignoring them instead of remedying the problem or situation. Here is where understanding God's nature and the promise you are standing on becomes vital.
I want to share an example of what I mean from my personal life. A little over twenty years ago, I went through a divorce. Totally unhappy for years, I decided that was the solution to my unhappiness and along with the divorce, I began a path of bad life choices which did not align with the rededication of my life to God. I had made new commitments to that relationship and Satan came at my life with renewed vigor.
The debts I took with me after the divorce and a strained credit climate ended up taking me into bankruptcy and I felt God had deserted me. The downward spiral began to make me feel like God had indeed "left me and forsook me". The bankruptcy plan I chose was one to pay back my creditors over a five year period. In this case, the court decides how much of your paycheck you can keep each pay period and it isn't much.
Oddly, the thing I noticed, after a short time, was that the lack of money sometimes meant little to eat towards the end of the week, not much activity outside of work, things like that, but those things bothered me less than not being able to tithe. I had gotten involved again in my church and tithing to me was a heart felt gift and worship for me. I didn't look at it as paying for anything God had done for me, but it made me feel, I don't know, ...appreciative! There just wasn't anything left over at the end of the week. I spoke to my Pastor about it and he assured me that it was okay, that God knew my heart and suggested that I might substitute some physical service to the church body. I began helping in Bible Study, etc.
It still bothered me, though. On one of my morning runs, my prayer and meditation time, I happened to notice a dollar bill sticking out of the corner of a fast food bag someone had thrown out the window. I stopped and picked it up, along with some change and kept running. As the run progressed and my meditation continued, I prayed to God and said, Lord from this day forward until I get back on my feet, any money I find is Yours. For the next few years, I would find anywhere from five dollars, up to forty one week and I was able to tithe through the bankruptcy period.
Along with God answering my prayer, I begin to realize that He had not deserted me, I had deserted Him, in part. He was right there where I left Him, ready and willing to take me back and comfort me in my distress. The fact is, God cannot be in the presence of sin. I had to confess and repent and return to Him and things began to look up even down that difficult road I had chosen. The consequences of my decisions did not go away, but I was comforted by God's presence in my life. Now, I am much more conscious of how my current nature and God's unchangeable righteousness can fit together and, that, only because of the work of Jesus on the cross.
2 Chronicles 7:14 spells it out. "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
I see these two verses as bookends of the same promise. God knows He will never leave us, but that we will move off the path He has set for us. He has, however, included a way back for us.
