Have you ever been moved by a radio spot? I hadn’t either….Until while driving to Henderson, I was listening one of the MILLIONS (okay, there are probably four or five) of Christian radio stations we have here in East Texas. One of them was sponsoring a radio talk show. I normally don’t like these things (all sweet talk and no meat), but they were talking about service so I listened.Truthfully, the real reason I was listening was to find fault with what they were saying, so (of course) I was mentally picking apart every word. If you've ever done this, you know it’s kind of hard to really listen when all you're doing is building a defense.
But then, the interviewer said something so nonchalantly, so unflappably that I know she wasn’t saying it to be cool or sound Christian -- it’s dumb really that I was moved by this… but she said, “I made a promise to God…. (and she went on). She made a promise to God. A promise to God…. Aggggg, I love that wording and I don’t know why. I’m a big promiser. I won’t say “promise” unless I know 100 percent that I am going to do the afore mentioned thing. I just won’t. But, her responsibility to pay up was even bigger... she made a promise to God. I guess this struck me because I had been thinking a lot about the relationship between God and man and how God makes all the promises to us. There are the big promises like: He promises to love us (no matter what). He promises the Holy Spirit will live inside of believers (totally cool). He promised never to flood the earth again (too many Sunday school lessons, did you really think I’d leave that one out? :O) ) And, the ones I've been pondering lately, the promise to never leave or forsake us, the promise that He has a plan for our future that is sure to bring hope, and that the Lord is my helper.

So, I had been stuck on what God has promised me... and was tapping my foot thinking He hadn't made good on them yet. HOWEVER, what a bummer for God... I had forgotten the promises we make to Him. For example, Jacob promised his worship and a 1/10th of everything in exchange of protection. Hannah promised her son to Him. The sailors that threw Jonah overboard were so freaked out about the storm and tossing homeboy over, that they made promises to God to escape punishment. Me? I've made promises too, the main one being my life on the alter. But, like the sailors, I too have pinky-sweared stuff that I thought would get me out of trouble.

The radio lady (I’m kind of putting words in her mouth, but…) reminded me that I can made ambiguous promises too, because the Lord can read my intentions. Promises offered like, love and acceptance may sound both hippie and hazy to you… but to God, they’re promises nonetheless that mean something special between the two of us.