Promise Keepers - Ms. Esther Norman

It was a Sunday afternoon. As usual we had been to church and everyone was hungry. I was very busy trying to prepare lunch as fast as possible. All of a sudden my seven-year-old son came running into the kitchen and complained, “Momma, you promised me you’d make me milk kova (a south Indian sweet dish) today. But you didn’t keep your promise!” The strong accusation was like a bolt of lightning passing through me, shaking me up from the very inside.

I always enjoyed cooking, especially while trying out new recipes. My husband and my 7-year-old son encourage me a lot. We had seen a demonstration of preparation of a sweet, milk kova, on a television show. My son told me that I should try that and I promised him that I would prepare it during the following Saturday. But I was so caught up with other things that I totally forgot about it. Now, feeling very guilty about not keeping the promise, I sincerely apologised to my son. I stopped whatever I was doing and quickly prepared his favourite milk sweet within the next twenty-five minutes.

My enthusiastic son was only too happy to assist me. Somehow this incident made a deep impression on me and made me think about our Great Promise Keeper. If I, a mere mortal, could be so sensitive about keeping my promise to my son, how much more would my heavenly Father be. God’s Word is a book of promises from God. Throughout the Bible, we see God making promises to His children and always fulfilling them. God promised Abraham that He would give him a son. However, Abraham had to wait for the next 25 years to see its fulfilment. Many of us, if we were in Abraham’s place, would have definitely thought, “Maybe God has forgotten me!”

However Hebrew 11:11 says, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered Him faithful who had made the promise,” (NIV). He only grew stronger in his faith on God. An important lesson for us is that God always fulfils His promise no matter how contrary we feel. Hebrew 10:23 also says, “Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise,” (NLT). So if God has promised, we can be assured that He will keep His word. However His timing may not be in tune with ours. His will be perfect and always at the right time. Every time I had a problem or a difficult situation, I can turn to God’s word. The word of His promise to me as His child gives me immense strength.

The very thought filled my heart with gratitude toward my Wonderful Promise Keeper. It also made me to cling on to His promises any time because He is always true to fulfil them. I can face every new day, new moment, new challenges and without fear. Being a child of this promise-keeping God, I cannot but be a promise-keeper myself. Now I take time to think twice before I make a promise. I make realistic promises – promises that I can keep. I only make promises that need to be fulfilled immediately or in short span of time. When the promise involves more than a couple of days then I set-up a reminder on my husband’s mobile phone. So when I make a promise, I am reminded and am able to keep it. I can draw all the strength that I need to do so because He has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5). With these thoughts I stepped out of my home with my head lifted high, to face the world It was a rainy day, and the big rainbow that shot across the sky seemed to say ‘yes’ to me.