Trusting God's Oath

Friday, June 9

Trusting God’s Oath
Anna Williams

“When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure...”  -Hebrews 6:13-19a NIV

I’m a fixer. Problem-solving comes naturally to me and it has served me well in life. My parents were farmers-turned-missionaries. Money was always scarce, so I learned early on to be creative and to work hard for the things I wanted. Self-sufficiency is a good thing; it is a skill set we desire for our children to obtain; however, sometimes, it can become our go-to instead of relying on God to meet our needs.

At times I have been guilty of taking on burdens that I had no business carrying because I got into a habit of trying to do things in my own strength. Those challenges were never meant for me to overcome alone. If I start feeling overwhelmed, stressed out and anxious, chances are that I’ve been ruminating on a problem without praying about it and giving it to God first.

This self-reliance that we develop can sometimes come from disappointments that we’ve suffered from other people letting us down. Maybe you’ve had to rely on yourself because the people in your life that were supposed to fill that support role, didn’t. Trauma can cause a lot of trust issues and sometimes we extend those issues to God himself.  

But today I have good news for you! If you’re exhausted from trying to do it all on your own or struggling with trust issues, God wants to take that from you! He is the creator of the universe and owes us absolutely NOTHING, but in His love for us, He chose to give us a double guarantee of his promises. He will never leave you nor forsake you. His love will never fail you. He is the author of the solution to your problem and the guarantor of his promises. 

Today I challenge you to meditate on the passage above that confirms God is trustworthy and then pull out your Bible and check out a few of these verses that state what exactly he has promised us that we can use to anchor our souls: 1 John 1:9, Matthew 6:14, Hebrews 13:5-6, 2 Corinthians 4:17, John 16:33, James 4:7, Psalm 34:19, Mark 11:24, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Philippians 4:19.