Jen’s Gem: God keeps His promises.
This week I had minor oral surgery. I was told it was a simple procedure and there would be minimal issues. I left the surgeon’s office with confidence. Why wouldn’t I? He’s the expert.
Well…
I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say that my expectations were not met. Far from it, which is why you are receiving this message on a Sunday evening. There is no video either as I am not “ready for my closeup Mr. DeMille. ” Although at the time of this writing I am feeling much better. Praise God!
Here is what this experience has taught me.
- People will always disappoint you – perhaps not intentionally, but they will. You may have been disappointed that you did not receive my weekly message this morning as you have for the past five years. My apologies. This was sooo not my intention.
- Things are rarely as they appear. Within 24 hours of the procedure, I was convinced the incision was infected. The doctor assured me that what I was seeing was part of the healing process.
- You either believe God and His Word or you don’t. There is no middle ground.
As I lay in bed on that first night dealing with the aftermath of medications that did not play nice in the sandbox, thinking I was a goner, I realized that I had a decision to make. I had a choice to speak life over my life or agree with the lies that the devil was shouting at me.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV)
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live… (Deuteronomy 30:19 NKJV)
You see God has given us the answer to the test. God says to choose life that you and your children will live. Makes sense, yes? Who would choose death? Makes no sense, right?
Yet, that’s exactly what we do when we believe the lies that Satan tosses at us. We’re agreeing with him instead of agreeing with God, our Creator about the promises He promised to all who believe in Him.
When we agree with these lies, we are not living the life Jesus died for us to have. We are living a life of quiet desperation, barely surviving, or slogging along day to day praying for Friday or vacation or retirement.
That my friend is not a victorious life.
In those moments when my body was a hot mess, I could have bemoaned my situation, given in. Yet even though I could not speak out loud, every promise of God I knew I “spoke” in my thoughts. I pointed to my bulletin board filled with writings that declare His promises and reminded Him of His Word and the words He spoke to me personally.
Unlike people and the devil, God is not a liar. His promises are true. He fulfills every single one of them. He may not do it in our preferred timing, but He does do it.
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19 NKJV)
I was not expecting this medical event to turn out the way it did. I was not expecting to not write my blog this morning. I was not expecting to “lose” three days of my life doing essentially nothing as my body recovered.
However, as I spoke God’s promises of healing over my body, as I called upon friends to agree with me in prayer, I fully expected God to do His part…and He did.
Whatever challenge you are facing this week, I want to encourage you to look up Scriptures that speak to your situation. Write them down, say them out loud. Rinse and repeat until the prayer is answered.
And oh yeah…have a solid expectation that God will keep His promises. Because He will.