Promise

Promsie...not a word I use lightly.  I never have.  I am a firm believer that if you are going to use this word you should know...beyond a shadow of a doubt...you can hold to it.  It is a word that is used much too lightly in my opinion.  People make "promises" to each other all the time, parents do it with their kids just to get them to stop doing what ever it is, or asking for whatever they are asking for, couples promise to love each other for all eternity - forever and ever.  I've seen this word cause more damage to a person than just about any other word, because the person using it inevitably ends up breaking that promise.  I try to believe that it isn't intentional, that most people don't put as much weight on the word as I do, but imagine what this world would look like if people held to their word, their promise. 

I have had peole say "I promise (insert whatever you want here)" and I always (always always) say, "please don't use that word".  I cannot explain why, but for me it is much better to deal with the "let down" if there is not a broken promise on top of it.  My kids used to do the "I promise mommy, I'll clean my room, eat all my food, etc etc....if....." And I've always said the same thing to them, "a promise is something you ONLY make if you are 110% sure it's something you can keep". 

I've recently had to remind myself that not everyone in my life holds this word as highly as I do.  I recently opened up about some recent/current/past struggles in my life and the pain that came with those (90% resulting from broken promises..go figure right) with a friend and in that moment was given the "promise" that this friend would always be there for me and that I would never feel abandoned or alone.  I didn't ask this friend not to use that word.  It was the first time in a really REALLY long time that I allowed myself to trust a person and the word at the same time.  For that past couple of weeks I have really been struggling with feeling like again it was just a word used in a moment to make someone (me) feel better. Circumstances usually get in the way of keeping promises.  This thought leads me to thank God repeatedly for HIS WORD. 

Dictionary.com defines promise as a declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc. by one.  I tried to google how often the word promise is mentioned in the bible, but my connection speed is slow and only this website appears to be working.  I imagine it is quite a bit.  I love the God's promises can all be depended on.  I love that if He said He will do it, He WILL.  So far it has been my experience that His promises are the only ones I have ever been able to count on.  There is a security in that that keeps me going, even better all of His promises are YES and AMEN.  How cool is that?