You Have My Word On It!

Carp's Daily Tidbits

"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Psalm 103:2

Date: Friday, March 6, 2015

Today's Title: You Have My Word On It!  

Today's Scripture: Isaiah 40:5

Where were they?  They had promised him that morning they’d be there and here it was, already the bottom of the third inning and he had already been at bat twice.  Of course, he had struck out both times so, in a way, he was glad his parents hadn't been there to see it.  Still, they had promised.  That was the point! 

Josh had never known his parents to be unfaithful to their word.  When he was younger, his dad had promised him they would spend a weekend camping, just the two of them.  Although he was snowed under with work, his dad had taken the weekend to go camping with him.  His mom knew how much he loved to ride his skateboard.  She had promised him that one day she would buy him a new one to replace the one had used for years.  Mom had been true to her word. Even though money was tight, somehow she bought him a new skateboard for his birthday.

It was now the bottom of the seventh inning and still no mom and dad!  Josh scanned the crowd, feverishly looking for a familiar face.  His team was behind and he was up on deck.  He so wanted his parents to see him play and he couldn't understand why they weren't there.  For the life of him, he couldn't comprehend why they hadn't bothered to come see him play.  He fought back the tears and the heartache as his name boomed over the loud speaker.

He approached the batter’s box, looked at the pitcher, tagged home plate, dug in his heel, swung the bat, and stood ready to hit whatever the pitcher threw at him.  As he waited for the windup, he noticed something at the far end of the field.  He couldn't believe his eyes!  His mom and dad were standing outside the fence waving at him.  They never stood outside the gate and certainly not by the outfield.  His dad was waving his arms, encouraging Josh to knock one over the fence and put his team squarely in the lead. 

Josh gritted his teeth, dug his heel in a little more, and when the pitcher delivered the ball, Josh sent it reeling over the left field wall.  He couldn't believe it but as he rounded third base, he heard his dad yelling his name and telling his son to meet him at the dugout because he had something to share with him.  Josh finished rounding the bases and, when he arrived back at the dugout, his parents were waiting there for him, beaming with pride from ear to ear.

Josh’s dad was so proud of him.  He told Josh that he and his mother had been there the whole game.  They had seen his strikeouts and they were afraid he would grow disheartened.  The stands were almost full when they arrived so they had to sit in the visitors section.  They knew Josh couldn't see them so they decided to move, to get into a position where he could see them and know that they had kept their word.  They loved him and they wanted to show him in a real way how much he meant to them.  So, between the sixth and seventh innings, they had walked all the way to the left-field fence so he could see them when he came up to bat.  Josh’s dad had given his word and he wanted his son to know his dad’s word was trustworthy.

All of us are Josh at one time or another, aren't we, especially when it comes to believing our Heavenly Father.  We have no difficulty placing our faith in God as long as we see Him at work on a regular basis.  Our faith in Him is strong as long as our prayers are answered in a timely manner.   But if He delays one instant longer than we think He should or if the answer to one of our prayers is not what we had hoped, we find ourselves in Josh’s position, looking around, wondering if God is in the crowd.  We don’t understand where He could be, or why He seems to have left us stranded during our greatest moment of need.  Our worry and our frustration cause us to believe that God has forgotten His promise to us.

It is about this time, at the bottom of the seventh inning in our situation, that God shows up.  He’s been there all along, watching us, cheering for us, taking note of all our disappointments and failures.  Because of His great love for us, He walks to the end of the field, positions Himself where we can see Him, and He encourages us in our trials.  As we round the bases of life we can hear Him call our names and He tells us to meet Him on our knees in the dugout.  There, He reassures us that we belong to Him.  He opens His arms and hugs us, and tells us we should never doubt Him because we have a Father who is trustworthy, whose word cannot fail.

The prophet Isaiah penned these words from God and addressed them to the entire nation of Israel, “And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:5) These were the words God spoke when He promised to send the Messiah to Israel.  They were spoken hundreds of years before Jesus came.  Did that mean God had forgotten Israel?  Did it mean He had reneged on His word?  Did His silence mean He had forsaken His people?  Not on your life!  God was merely walking to the end of the field so the people could see Him.  And see Him they did in the person of Jesus Christ.

Today, you may feel as Josh did.  You may wonder if God has forgotten you or if He even knows you exist.  Believe me, as one of His children through faith in Jesus Christ, He knows all about you and your life.  As you approach the plate, take a look over the left-field fence.  Do you see Him?  He’s there in full view cheering you on!  He’s there because you belong to Him and because He loves you!  As you round the last base you will hear Him call your name and say to you, “I am here for you.  I am pulling for you.  I know all there is to know about you.  I promised I would be here and here I am.  You can trust me to keep all my promises.  You have my word on it!”