Promises Kept

By Lani Wiens

Have you ever worked hard to fight for something that has already been promised to you? I have. It took an incident with my son the other day to help me recognize my tendency to strive rather than trust in God's promises.

In our family, the front seat of the van is a much coveted position. That's the way it was when I was growing up, too. Though we all wanted to sit up front, my brother always got that special seat because he managed to convince my parents he would get sick otherwise. My kids are no different except that none have a car-sickness problem.

My job is to remember whose turn it is to sit up front. Christopher, our second oldest, sometimes has difficulty believing that he'll get what's been promised to him. He worries that if his older brother gets there first, he will have to fight to get the front seat, or lose out.

The other day when we were getting ready to run some errands, I told Christopher it was his turn to have the front seat. He immediately rushed out the door to get to the van before anyone could take this seat away from him. His older brother, sensing Christopher's insecurity and relishing the opportunity to antagonize his brother, rushed out ahead of him, causing Chris to believe his spot was in jeopardy.

When I arrived on the scene, a fight was in progress over the still locked door handle to the van. Chris was determined that if he didn't get in first, the front seat would be lost to him. As I tried to calm them down I said, "Christopher, didn't I say that you could ride in the front today?" He nodded. "Then you have nothing to fight for. It's yours. No matter who gets into there ahead of you, the front seat has been reserved for you. Relax."

As we drove off with everyone in their assigned seats, I thought about what I had said to Christopher, and realized how I needed to apply those words to my relationship with God. Often, I strive to try and work to try and gain that which has been promised to me by my heavenly Father.

God is helping me understand that no matter who seems to be receiving their promises first, no matter if it looks like others are ahead of me, and even if I have to wait until my door is unlocked and everyone else is in their proper place - God's promises are mine and my Father has reserved them for me at the right time. God has given me - and you - promises from His Word. And nobody can take them from us.

I don't need to strive, I simply need to trust Him to do what He has promised, even though it may not happen in the time frame or manner in which I would like. I'm reminded of the Bible verse, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will bring it to pass" (Ps. 37:4).

Lani Wiens is a free-lance writer from Saskatoon, Canada. She's a wife and the mother of 5. She writes a weekly inspirational e-mail entitled "Fresh Flowers." To be added to her list e-mail to laniwiens@yahoo.ca with "add me to your list" in the subject line.