Good Tuesday morning! The light of day comes and we tend to forget the promises made to God in the darkness. In thinking about my main character in one book, I wondered how often you, me, or anyone makes promises in our fear and then forgets those promises when the darkness is lifted in God's mercy. In many cases, God doesn't need everyone to fulfill his or her promise of a mission to the Congo. These days it could be that God has more missionaries from the Congo to send out than a need for more to go in. Often the promises in the dark we make only come from what we think God needs. God may have us forget a promise because he needs one or all of us to be right where he has each of us already. If God took up every promise made in the dark, who would stay to form the lifelong friendships that help us grow closer to our brothers and sisters in Christ? What happens when all those fulfilling promises in far away lands suddenly have another dark night? Would you have to promise to have a mission trip back to your home town?
Some will be called to travel to other towns and lands, but I suspect that what most of us need to promise in the dark times is to learn to trust in God. Complete trust in our Lord does not come automatically or instantly. When the wind howls, the darkness descends, and your life looks like a lost cause, make a promise to learn to trust in God. We may come at it from different directions; from the "why am I here?" to the "I'm scared to be here right now!" If God has brought you to Nowheresville, trust that He has a godly reason for you to be there. If God has brought you to the bottom of a dreadful valley, trust that He will show you the route to climb back up to His mountain.
When God brought the Israelites into the wilderness, many of them despaired and wanted to go back to Egypt. I can only imagine the astonishment in Heaven when God told the angels that His people wanted to go back to slavery. After all the examples of God's might shown in their escape, their faith wavered and the people looked away from God. We can easily be in that same frame of mind - looking back and failing to trust in God. Learn from the stories in the Old Testament. God has never and will never fail in His promises. If you are called to go far away, trust in God. If you are called to stay put, trust in God. Both calls have the potential for much anxiety if we look at the darkness and take our eyes off of our God.
God loves you and me, here and now, today and tomorrow; trust in Him!
Bucky
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