Promise Keeper
"You are Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are."
For the past few months my church has been singing the song "Waymaker" by Leeland. You know it, right?
I have probably sang these lyrics 20 to 30 times over the past few months and there is one part that makes me catch my breath every time: Promise Keeper. Each time I sing these 2 simple words I check deep in my heart to see if I believe what I am singing and to whisper reminders of promises that my Father has kept before. There are so many instances in my life where His ability to keep promises is tangibly demonstrated, but I want to focus on one specific promise that was fulfilled yesterday. In order to give you a full picture of how good God is and how certain I am that He keeps His promises, let me go back a few years...
It was 2016 and I was living in Lynchburg, finishing up my bachelors degree, and working as a writer for Liberty University's marketing department. I loved my life and my job, but was considering moving back to North Carolina to work at my home church. There were so many pros to staying where I was and so many pros to moving back home that I felt torn in half about the decision. Well, that was, until one night when I was walking through Target.
I was in the clothing section probably looking at another cardigan I did NOT need and talking to God about the big decision I had looming over my head. More than likely I was complaining about the decision and asking Him to please show me what I was supposed to do in a desperate attempt to make the very best decision possible. I was reviewing my mental pro/con list when a small whisper stopped me in my tracks. In all of my planning, deliberating, and decision-making I had considered so many different aspects of each option except for my biological family. See, I was "adopted" by a pastor's family the summer before my senior year of high school, but I still had my biological mom and younger brother back home in North Carolina as well as my newly discovered adopted family. Even though I didn't speak to my biological mom or brother very often while I was at college, I prayed relentlessly for them both. I knew God was asking me to move home and witness to them. I felt like I could hear Him asking, "If you don't go home and share Christ with them, who will?" And that was all the motivation I needed.
Standing in the middle of the clothing isle in Target I knew that my decision was made and that I was trusting God to work a miracle through this decision with my biological family. I knew the battle ahead wasn't going to be easy; it was going to take every single bit of strength and faith I had, but it was worth it. The first 2 years being back home, I didn't see my mom or brother nearly as much as I wanted to for a number of different reasons. However, I continued to pray that God would use me as an example of His love for them and would rescue them, so that one glorious day I would be able to rejoice with them forever. Now I had been praying that God would reach my family through the chains of addiction, alcoholism, abuse, anger, brokeness, and so much more since I accepted Christ back in 2012. All along the way I had serious moments where I doubted that God would honor this prayer or fulfill His promise, I had so many broken, tear-stained cheek moments where I lashed out at God because He wasn't moving at my pace, He wasn't doing things according to my schedule, and I couldn't see how He was going to make this happen. Through all of my fear and doubt, I trusted that His love was big enough to even reach my little family right where they were and in the middle of the mess.
Currently, my brother has been living with me for a few months and just recently started showing a real interest in church. It has been exciting to watch small seeds become planted in his life. So yesterday, I woke up around 8 a.m. and was working on day 3 of what felt like a terrible case of the flu. I did not feel like going to church, my throat was raw, my body was aching, and my fever was around 101.5 - but from the moment I opened my eyes, I felt something tell me that I was supposed to go to church. I even texted a friend of mine before church that "I just feel like I am supposed to be at church today."
I didn't think anything of it except that I could clearly tell God was urging me to get to church. About 20 minutes into the message, I knew why I was there and it had nothing to do with me. My brother was sitting beside me taking notes on the sermon and I noticed he didn't even glance at his phone once the entire time - he was completely locked in on what was being said from the pulpit. I could feel that God was speaking directly to him as He had spoken to me so many times before. As the sermon drew to a close and the altar call began, I started praying that my brother would hear God's voice and respond. I could feel the Holy Spirit thick and moving in a way I have only felt a few times before. And guess what? Yesterday, March 1 of 2020, my 17 year old brother accepted Christ.
I have prayed for that moment for 8 years. I have held onto Scripture that says God is capable of rescuing hearts of stone and making dead bones live again. There has been an ARMY of believers praying for this moment with me. I believed that He would keep His promise to me for 8 years now, and my friends...He came through, He showed up, and He kept His promise to me. And you know what? The timing was perfect. My adopted dad led me to Christ at 17 years old and yesterday, he led my brother to Christ at 17 years old, too. His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts, and we cannot begin to fathom the plans He has for us. Heaven rejoiced, hell lost, and my Father kept His promise to me.
What are you holding back from asking God? What promise are you fearful He can't keep? Let it go. Surrender it. He is so faithful, He is the greatest Promise Keeper I've ever met.
