Standing on the Promises?

I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice. Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Psalm 34:1-3, 8 BSB

Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9 AMP

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I love the classic hymn, “Standing on the Promises.” In fact, I have an old combo CD and cassette player in my van (no laughing), where I regularly play the song on repeat, belting out the tune with gusto. Never for an audience of course, my voice is not for the faint of heart. Standing on the promises is a succinct way of saying, “I see this Scripture, Lord. This promise in Your Word and I stand on the truth of it. With all that I am, I trust You and Your Word. Come what may.”

But I’ll let you in on a secret, sometimes (okay, often) I sing the song w/o faith or feeling. Singing instead, to praise and proclaim my trust despite what surrounds me or my lack of feeling. I know He’s good and He’s faithful to His Word. Period. So, I belt it out.

You see, standing on the promises is so very easy to say and so very hard to do. When we look a crisis full in the face. When we are confronted with the raw reality of our fears… When our worst-case-scenario actually happens. When all our prayed-for and hoped-for expectations are ripped to shreds. That’s when we discover if we’ve been “standing on the promises” or if our faith has been all talk and no Rock.

Any of us can have faith and toss out a cutsie scripture reference when the bank account is full, the family is well and life is running along smoothly. Right? Who requires faith for that? Faith is needed in the testing hour, not the resting hour. When everything appears contrary to His promises. Is that where you are? That’s okay. I’ve been there more times than I can count. Truthfully, there are a couple “promise tests” tests confronting me even as I type these words.  They are opportunities to take Him at His word and trust Him, no matter the circumstance. As a follower of Christ, If He allows it, He has promised to bring good from it.

If today finds you with a few promise tests of your own, I am so sorry. Allow me to encourage you to read His Word and while you’re at it, belt out “Standing on the Promises, of Christ My King…”  A newer song that was borne from walking this out in real-life is titled, Faithfully, by TobyMac. In rawness, he sings of re-learning to trust and stand on the Word, after the tragic death of his son.  

Heavenly Father, sometimes the trials of real life are all I can see … all I can feel. It’s at those times and in those moments that I am tempted to forget the Truth of Your Word and Your utter faithfulness. Cause me to praise You even as I wait for You to work Your perfect will in me and in my life. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, Amen.

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

To purchase a hard copy of the devotional, Stony Paths or Shelter from the Storm visit the products page or visit Lulu Publishing. It may also be purchased on Amazon.

Learning to trust Him as we walk along Stony Paths – $14.99 A gritty devotional that confronts the hot-mess reality of life while landing on the bedrock of the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.

Shelter from the Storm – 101 Messages of Authentic Hope for Difficult Times, $14.99 will remind readers that they are not alone and there is hope. Authentic hope. Not by ignoring the reality of pain but by viewing it through the lens of God’s great faithfulness.