They Aren’t the Only Ones with a Promise
The more I read God’s word, the more I trust his words. Do you ever hear things about God and wonder how true they really are? Maybe you hear about what he has done for other people and doubt he would ever do that for you? Like how much of a provider is God really? Because I have been waiting for a new job for six months too long. Or on a scale of 1-10 how good is God really? Because my life recently has been anything but easy. Your mind may sound similar to, how do they “hear a promise from God” when all I hear is the background noise of my dryer as I pause my life to hear from him.. The enemy makes it a little too easy to read about a God of miracles in the bible and not believe that he is still the God of miracles for us too.
As I have been reading through the story of Moses and the Israelites on their journey through to the promise land I had a revelation in my heart of what I had only known in my mind. I believe there is a difference between what we know in our mind and what we believe in our heart. What we know in our mind can be a storage unit of knowledge that we trust, you trust the source you heard or read it from enough to believe it. Knowledge in our heart is knowledge that you believe in a way that shifts the way you live your life. The way you speak. The way you think. It’s a belief that comes from an experience.
As I read through Deuteronomy I had an experience, I realized the heart God had for the Israelites, not just as a generation but as a Nation. As one generation died off, the next generation was still a recipient of the same promise, and every generation to come. God didn’t just make a promise to Moses, he made a promise to every Israelite that would come after him.
Deuteronomy 7:6 says, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession.”
This verse is God’s words to Moses, to the Israelites, and… to you.
Fast forward to an encounter with Rahab in Joshua. Rahab is not an Israelite. In fact, she is a citizen of the city God calls them to destroy. As Israelite spies come to scout the land they are getting ready to invade, they meet Rahab, a woman who kindly invites them into her home for shelter. As a believer in God and as a result of her obedience to God, when the Israelites invade she becomes number one on the rescue list. Because she loves God, because she obeys God, she becomes a recipient of the promise. We can see this is the same formula God still gives us for life with him today.
1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are God’s people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession…”
Here we read a verse from 1 Peter written thousands of years after the verse in Deuteronomy, but the promise has stayed the same. God’s promises are not exclusive to the Israelites. We are chosen by God. We are chosen recipients of his promise. God’s promises are not exclusive to that generation. God’s promises are for you. Who am I to be surprised that God never changes!
I mentioned I got excited when I had this spiritual revelation. I got excited because it’s not just one promise from the Old Testament that is also our promise too, it's all of them.
God is not just their provider, he is your provider.
God is not just their peace, he is your peace.
God didn’t just redeem their family, he is redeeming your family.
God was not just their friend, he is your friend.
He doesn’t care about them more than he cares about you. He doesn’t hear their prayers more than he hears yours. He isn’t close to their hurting more than he is closer to yours. But just like Rahab, undeserving of saving, undeserving of grace, you have always been and will always be at the top of his rescue list. They aren’t the only ones with a promise! Because you are his, all his promises are yours.
Believing with you,
Scarlet
