“Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words remain forever.” Matthew 24:35 [The Living Bible]

Did someone ever make a promise to you and then not keep it? How disappointing that was! And if the promise was very special to you, it probably made you mad or broke your heart.

I know that as a mom and grandma I have made promises that I broke. Sometimes I just got so busy that I couldn’t carry through; other times the circumstances changed and the promise didn’t work. I know my kids and grandkids suffered because of it even though I really tried to make it up to them.

So knowing how easily breaking promises happens I am so glad that God never, ever breaks His promise. Also, He never has to take back what He said. He always speaks the truth.

We sometimes hear someone say, “You’re going to have to eat your words. Just wait and see.” But Jesus never has to eat His words; not even when we don’t take what He says seriously. His words always come true.

Joseph’s brothers must have thought that Joseph would have to eat his words. He told them of his dream where the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to him.

His brothers knew what he was implying; that some day they would bow down to him. And they said, “No way, Joseph. This time you went too far. You are way out of line.” Only they forgot the most important thing. This dream was from God; not just any dream or Joseph’s desire to lord it over his brothers.

Now there was a famine in all the countries. There came a day when Jacob and his eleven sons ran out of food also. But Jacob heard that there was food available to buy in Egypt. So he sent the ten brothers to buy grain there. He kept Benjamin with him. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to Benjamin like it happened to Joseph.

I wonder how the brothers felt as they travelled to Egypt. As they travelled this road and then that one, did they think of the day when Joseph must have travelled that same road? Did they wonder what ever happened to their brother? Where he was? If he had perhaps died? The Bible doesn’t mention that, but I like to think so.

Pharaoh had made Joseph governor of Egypt and he was in charge of selling the grain. When the ten brothers came to him and bowed down before him they had no idea that they were bowing down to Joseph. They didn’t even know that Joseph’s dream was coming true and yet they were making it happen.

Joseph was now an Egyptian and he dressed like them and he spoke their language. The brothers spoke to him through an interpreter. Besides, they wouldn’t have recognized him because when they sold him as a slave to the merchants from Egypt he was only seventeen. That was twenty years ago. They probably thought that he was dead by now. Most slaves didn’t get very old because they had to work so hard and they were often beaten.

Joseph recognized his brothers though. Joseph also realized that his dream was coming true. But he didn’t let on. He wanted to test his brothers to see if they had changed for the better. He wanted to find out if they would betray or maybe even sell another of their brothers.

When they admitted that they had another brother at home, Joseph knew that they were talking about his little brother, Benjamin. Joseph then accused them of being spies and threw them into prison to test them further.

After three days he had his men fill their sacks with grain and demanded that they go home and bring back their other brother. To make sure they would do as he said Joseph kept one of the brothers, Simeon, hostage in prison till their return.

The brothers must have been very afraid. They knew that this governor had all power in Egypt. He could even have them beheaded. It happened a lot in those days.

They talked among themselves that these bad things were happening to them because they had sold Joseph and deceived their dad by bringing Joseph’s coat home, dipped in blood. Jacob, Joseph’s dad, thought a wild animal had attacked and eaten Joseph. Now his brothers were sorry for what they had done.

They didn’t know that Joseph understood every word they said. How hard it must have been for Joseph to not let on that he was their brother. It was important to him to test them. He wanted to see how they would treat Benjamin too. By the way they talked he knew that they would try their best to protect him.

When Joseph’s brothers said that Joseph’s dream would never come true, they made a mistake. They made that mistake because they didn’t take into consideration who gave Joseph that dream. It was God who gave him the dream and God never lies.

Because in their way of thinking the dream was so far out, beyond their wildest imagination, they thought it just couldn’t be from God. Also, it was pretty humiliating to them to think that they, the big brothers, would bow to or serve their younger brother. In those days the oldest sons were always given the highest honors.

So we need to realize that we are not to judge God’s promises; if they seem possible or not. We need to accept them as His word; truth.

When you read of a promise from God to you in the Bible you know He will do it. And as His child He gives you many promises.

One of His best promises to us is that if we are obedient and loyal to Him He will help us and take care of us. Another one is that He will never leave us or forsake us. My favorite one is that He promised one day He will come back and take us to heaven to be with Him for ever and ever and ever and ever.

Going Deeper as Parents:

As much as we trust in God’s promises, we also realize that they are conditional. If we do this He will do that; as when the Bible says if we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.

One promise I stand on a lot because I tend to run out of energy some days, is Isaiah 40: 31 [NKJV]
”But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.”

The other day I drove to Lethbridge for my twin grandsons’ third birthday. Since it’s a good two and half hour drive I usually stay overnight. But this time I took my niece and her two preschoolers with me so I was committed to drive back home the same day.

Still, I mused, I could easily start out at eight in the morning and be back at six to accommodate my niece’s commitment that evening. As usual, that morning I asked God for energy for the day’s activities because driving for five hours and spending time with my active grandsons would tax my limit.

As I spent time with God that morning, reading the Bible and praying, I reminded God of Isaiah 40: 31. Since I spent time with Him, asking Him to strengthen me, I trusted Him to give me energy for my day.

I usually travel alone or with my husband so I had forgotten the unexpected that happens when travelling with little ones. There was a clean up after car sickness to contend with plus a stop at the drugstore. We arrived almost an hour late but decided we would just shorten our visit and still leave at the agreed time.

But I had given God my day and He orchestrates according to His plan. The birthday celebrations were fun and going well until after lunch, when the unexpected [unexpected to us but not to God] happened and our well planned day changed.

A lid slammed down on one of the children’s fingers and fearing the finger was broken we sped to the hospital. The three hour wait delayed us once again. We were glad the finger wasn’t broken. By then it was supper time so we decided to stay a bit
longer to visit over meal time.

By the time we left, a heavy snow storm blew in which slowed us down. Further down the road we ran into blizzard conditions. It was way past our allotted time by the time we reached home in Calgary.

Inspite of the extra emotional strain and the lateness of the hour I could still say I wasn’t tired. I thanked God for His promise in giving me energy as my day.

When we practice trusting God’s promises in our daily affairs of life, it increases our faith in Him and enables us to trust God’s promises for the future also, especially concerning eternal life.

Ruth Willms

Author: The Lion Tree
http://ruthwillms.com
ruth.willms@gmail.com

Want to know more about how God can help you every day? Check out my new book The Lion Tree at http://ruthwillms.com

Look for my new unpublished story, The Rubik’s Cube, at http://ruthwillms.com