Promises are risky to make. If I don’t fulfill a promise I made, my credibility is instantly and thoroughly destroyed. Even little promises taint a relationship when they are unmet. Big broken promises are devastating.

If I promise to wake you up from a nap in half an hour but let you sleep for a full hour, making you miss an important phone call, you won’t trust me with anything, big or small, for a long time.

If I promise to be faithful to you in a marriage but end up finding comfort in the arms of another, my marriage will be irreparably damaged and may dissolve entirely.

Promises are dangerous. Jesus warned humans against making them at all because we are so bad at keeping them. (See Matthew 5:33-37.)

God, on the other hand, is excellent at keeping His promises. He makes quite a few in the Bible. And so far, He has a 100% success rate. He’s batting a thousand. He’s so good at keeping His promises that He even keeps them when He technically doesn’t have to. When He made a deal with the Israelites, they didn’t keep their end of the bargain, but He still kept His. He let them suffer the consequences of their sin for a time, but then came through with His promise despite their failure.

“Look, the days are coming” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “when I will fulfill the good promise that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭33‬:‭14,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

God brought the Israelites out of exile and restored their land to them, fulfilling His good promise.

And then later, He sent Jesus, the Messiah, fulfilling another, more far-reaching aspect of this good promise.

God doesn’t owe me anything, and I haven’t earned any good thing from Him. And yet, He promised to save me from death. He promises to love me and be with me always. He promises to turn toward me and hear me when I pray to Him or praise Him. He promises to guide me and remind me of all He has taught me through the Bible. He promises to provide strength, rest, peace, and comfort, among other good things, when I come to Him seeking them.

God fulfills every promise He makes. If He hasn’t met a promise He made, it’s only because the time is not yet perfect. God can be trusted. My hope in Him is never in vain.

Dear God, thank you for showing me what true love looks like. Thank you for your reliability, your faithfulness, your trustworthiness. I’m sorry when I put my hope in other things. Thank you for your beautiful promises and for reminding me that you are the only perfectly consistent source of good and love to be found on earth.