Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
Do we believe the word that is mentioned above? We find that God is asking some important questions and we need to answer them if we want to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, because our answers will determine our strength in the ‘evil day.’ So how do we answer the first question: Does he speak and then not act? And the second one: Does he promise and not fulfill?”
God tells us in Deuteronomy 8:3 “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Every day we need to remind ourselves of the great promises of God in His Word. His promise is that He will be with us. We are told in Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Knowing that He was with me is the promise that I held onto in the early days of my ministry. His Presence brought me through many trials, tribulations and fears!
God told Joshua, who was ‘stepping into the shoes of Moses’ to lead the Children of Israel into the Promised Land: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) You might think that this was only a promise to Joshua, but what about me, His servant, today? Is God with me? YES He is, and He reminds us of the same promise given to the Hebrew Christians in Hebrews 13:5-6 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”
This is something that we need to be reminding ourselves of constantly when we are going through a hard severe trial or evil day. Remember what God said: He is with us, He will never leave us. I often tell my daughters “as your days are, so shall your strength be.” (Deuteronomy 33:25) I do not need strength for tomorrow, because it has not yet come and I do not need strength for yesterday because it is already past. I need strength for today and that is what God promises. So, learn to live one day at a time. God was teaching the Children of Israel in the wilderness this lesson by giving them manna to eat for the day only.
We know from Matthew 6 with the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount – that we have a tendency to worry about tomorrow (our future): “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34) Again God is telling us to live one day at a time and in that day we will have the strength that is needed to carry on. That is His promise.
We are told in Hebrews that we have a high priest (Jesus Christ) who has been tempted in all points of life – just like us, yet without sin, and He now sits at the right hand of the Father defending His own. We can now come to the throne of grace and obtain mercy in the time of need. What a promise that we can take hold of that enables us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
We also have the Holy Spirit – as His seal to our inheritance with Him, as well as down payment for what is to come. But also, there are times when we need special authority or a word of knowledge, etc. I know in preaching many times something is said, unknown to me that the Holy Spirit brings to the hearers: conviction, enlightenment, encouragement, etc.
Also, we find that during times of trial Scripture will come to our mind. When I lost a brother and sister in a fiery car crash it was an ‘evil day’ for me. I remember walking across the lawn and I heard a voice in back of me saying: “All things work together for good,” and then it stopped. I turned around to see who was speaking, but there was no one there. I found out later that this was Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” I cannot say that I loved God then, because I did not know Him at that time. Perhaps that is why only the words all things work together for good were used and not the rest. Looking back, I see how this accident brought me to the Lord as well as into the ministry later on. It had been His Purpose.
There are many examples in Scripture regarding what is being said about His Promises to the saints. Remember: God is not a man that He should lie; what He says will come to pass and what He promises will be true! Amen!