Believing in the promises of God

If you phone Tonya’s house when she’s not home you will not hear a generic greeting about how she is sorry she missed your call but would love to talk to you. Instead you will hear these verses:

“All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. … No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed. … This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication from me, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 54:13,17).

Months ago, when I took a long drive with Tonya to a courthouse and we talked about our kids along the way, she said to me in the course of our conversation:

“All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. … No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed. … This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication from me, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 54:13,17).

Recently again, when one of her sons was in trouble, Tonya quoted to me:

“All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. … No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed. … This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication from me, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 54:13,17).

I believe that God is going to make these verses come true in Tonya’s life. Why? Because she believes it. And God blesses faith in His Word, a rare jewel. (Isaiah 53:1: “Who has believed what he has heard from us?”) Tonya is very vocal to me about taking her stand on these particular promises, and you should see the seriousness on her face when she tells me God is going to do these things for her.

I believe that God is going to make these verses come true in Tonya’s life because Jesus said:

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).

It almost doesn’t matter which biblical promise Tonya had set her heart on. There are many other promises that would be just as fine and exciting. But while many people give the Bible a lick and a promise, reading one moment and forgetting the next moment what they’ve read, the Word profiting them no more than a seed snatched from the path, Tonya carries God’s promise for her children in her heart and constantly reminds Him of it. She will not be put to shame.