I doubt this is a revelation to anyone, but God can't lie. It says it right in verse 18 of this chapter. I've read this a thousand times (well, maybe not a thousand...after all, my mother told me a million times not to exaggerate) and heard it preached at least as many times over the pulpit. Which leaves me in a predicament. Do I really believe this verse? Sure, I believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, but do I really believe THIS verse?
If I did believe it why do I worry about the future? Philippians 4:19 says that God will supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory. Matthew 6:34 tells me not to worry about the future because today has enough trouble of its own and verse 30 of the same chapter tells me that if God takes care of the grass of the field he will surely take care of me. After all, I can vouch for the validity of Psalm 37:25 that states "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."
I truly have never seen the righteous forsaken...and no jokes about now being old. If past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, and I've never seen the righteous forsaken, what am I worried about? The future is just one topic where we can struggle with truly believing God's promises, but I'll spare you further examples as I'm sure we can all come up with our own areas of struggle.
Anyway, I said all of that to say God truly cannot lie. It's my own lack of faith that interferes with the realization of ALL of God's promises in my life. It's easy for me to have faith for some promises, and it's difficult to have faith for other promises. But, to delve into those faith issues would be stealing some of the thunder from Hebrews 11...and my father-in-law (who signed up for the easiest Daily Take Away in the whole history of ever in Hebrews 11:-) wouldn't want me to do that.
Thom Creek
