I promise
Psalm 105:7-10
He is the LORD our God; his judgments govern the whole earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he ordained for a thousand generations—the covenant he made with Abraham, swore to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob as a decree and to Israel as a permanent covenant:
I promise is a frequently used term today, and also used during biblical times, although often broken or taken back by kings and leaders. The permanency of the above promise and covenant is reinforced by God’s statement, “for 1000 generations.” But, I am not God and can’t make this kind of promise to keep.
On the other hand, many promises made by people are broken or not kept as first promised to the receiver, but we keep on promising, why? Probably because a promise is connected to trust, and we all want to be trusted or to build trust with another person. Of course, the opposite happens when we break that promise and destroy the trust. We can make beneficial or threatening promises. The threatening kind are best not followed through such as when one makes a promise out of anger, and then later regrets having made the statement in the form of a promise.
Morality is connected to promise making or breaking, and not all promises should be kept if made unwisely or when keeping the promise would do more harm than breaking it. It’s best not to make a promise if you know that there is a possibility that it cannot be fulfilled. It would be better to just say, “I will try, but if I fail please forgive me.”
“A tadpole and a caterpillar fall in love. ‘Promise me you’ll never change’,” asked the caterpillar. The tadpole says ‘I promise.’ But will he keep his promise? Can he keep his promise? And what will happen if he does change?...” The Philosophy Foundation (Thinking Changes)
So, step back, re-evaluate situations you may now find yourselves in, and judge how one can work within change or broken promises. Rebuild trust and if necessary say you’re sorry or ask for forgiveness, then pick up the pieces and more forward. Lastly, I know a God that I can trust to keep a promise up to a 1000 generations, all others must live well, fulfill their promises, and only make promises they can keep.
Prayer for Today:
May healing come to all the hurts in people caused by broken promises from when they were young, all the in-betweens, and when they are old. Reminds us about all of the promises You have kept and will keep that concern us now and yet to come. Amen
CH (MAJ) Dawn Siebold
Here is the direct email and phone number for anyone requesting support
From the 63d RD Chaplain office,
usarmy.usarc.63-rsc.list.chaplain-all-users@mail.mil
650-526-9668