I Promise

Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

His divine power has given us everything we need for

life and godliness through out knowledge of Him who

called us by His own glory and goodness.  Through these

He has given us His very great and precious promises...

2 Peter 1:3-4a

If I follow the street at the side of my house down two blocks, over one long block, up two blocks and back home, I have a half mile track that I walk every day - morning and evening, if possible. On the way down the short side by my house, I pass a little section of "no man's land" greatly overgrown with all kinds of vegetation. There are foot-tall trees that were once seedlings that no one yanked up, weeds of every description, and a huge abundance of honeysuckle vine woven in and out.  Arching out thither and yon from this green conglomerate are blackberry brambles loaded with flowerful promises of delicious eating to come. As I stopped to take pictures today, I paused to ponder which part of the blackberry cane contains the promise.  I think that people strong in faith would say the flower.  For me (who is far less trusting), it is the emergence of the tiny green fruit.

Trust can be a very fragile thing - battered and scarred by the tumult of every day existence.  My familial ties have fashioned me into a woman long on caution and short on basic faith.  I'm a "a bird in the hand is better than two in a bush" person and, like Thomas of old, I often need to "see" to believe.  This morning, my daily search of those flowering canes yielded the first sight of the developing fruit and I grinned in anticipation.

Peter reminds us that God has already given us everything we need for this life through His glory and goodness.  He has promised that He will never leave us, never forsake us, never give us more than we can bear through His strength; He promises us wisdom, love, courage, hope and faith.  The fulfillment of those promises rests in His power and grace.  All we need to do is open our hearts to receive them.