The Power of a Promise

Pastor Tim Howard
June 5, 2009

Several weeks ago my 3½ year-old grandson (Drew) awakened in the middle of the night and began to scream. Not knowing what had happened, I quickly made my way to his room and did what any concerned parent or grandparent would do. I picked him up, held him tightly, caressed his head and began to rock him. As we connected, I began to speak words of comfort.

What did I say? Well, I can tell you I didn’t lecture him about sleeping through the night nor did I tell him how insensitive he was for waking me up in the early morning hours. (Even though that crossed my mind!) I simply began to softly speak various promises into his ear. I said things like this: It’s going to be o.k. Drew because Poppy is here. I’m not going anywhere, I will protect you. You can go back to sleep because I will take care of things. I love you and I’m here to help you. As these promises were pronounced in his hearing, an amazing thing happened. Not instantly but very quickly his trust in the promises brought calmness to his mind and renewed sleep to his body.

When you read the Bible, you realize that God has made many promises to you and me. We are told that these promises are very precious and very powerful to anyone who trusts in Him. They can actually help a person rediscover hope in the midst of darkness and restore joy in the midst of difficulties. Just like my promises brought calmness to my grandson, God’s promises can bring light and life to you.

One of the greatest promises I have personally discovered in the Bible is found in 1 John 1:9. It says: “If we admit our sins—make a clean break of them—Jesus won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.” Let’s face it, we all blow it! We all need forgiveness!

While singing at a service some time ago, my wife began to sing a song but quickly discovered that the accompaniment track was the wrong one. She stopped the song, looked up at the control booth, and said, “Guys, let’s start over again.” That’s what forgiveness does. It gives a new start. Life isn’t like a television program where they tape it in advance. We’re all doing a live performance. If you blow it, you blow it. You can’t take those words back, no matter how much they hurt someone you love. You can’t undo what you did in anger. You can’t take back the lies you told, you can’t undo the wounds you’ve left, the people you’ve hurt. You said it; you did it, and there’s no rewinding the tape to do it over. The only solution is forgiveness.

It is forgiveness that releases you from the past and allows you to enjoy the present. Many people are experiencing a miserable existence today simply because they are chained to the past by un-forgiveness. You don’t have to be one of them. You can put your trust in God’s promises. You can admit your sin and decide to make a clean break from it. You can forgive others. When you do, God will be faithful to forgive you. I’m glad God included forgiveness in His many promises to us.