Proverbs 25:14 False Promises
“My word is my Bond” said the father in the movie Hook. “Yah, junk bonds” replied his son. Trust was lost because of the many false promises.
Our text talks specifically about promised ‘gifts’ being withheld but I think this metaphor translates very well to all broken promises. The ’gift’ in promises can be something you physically give to a person or something even more valuable; yourself. The one waiting on the ‘gift’, promise’s fulfillment, can see all the signs but the expected outcome never happens. The expectant heart is dashed to pieces as a result. And trust is broken; maybe not all at once but little by little.
There are many valid reasons for not keeping a promise, but there will be consequences. A loss of faith or trust is the ultimate consequence for a perpetual promise breaker. But there are other consequences too.
“I forgot” is one of the most often used reasons/excuses. Another overused one is “I got too busy.” Both of these leave the waiter feeling undervalued or unloved as a result. “You must not love me if I am that easy to forget or not important enough to matter to you.”
“We don’t have the money” is a valid reason, IF it is not overused. Planning and saving BEFORE making a promise is a good way to minimize this reason for broken promises. If not, then this excuse again communicates the lack of worth you place on the intended recipient. “If a pack of cigarettes is more important that taking me where you promised, I must not be worth very much to you.” IF YOUR FINANCES CAN’T SUPPORT IT, DON’T MAKE THE PROMISE. Offer something else instead.
My youngest grandson ran into broken promises this last week. He was promised certain rewards if he did his work in school. He did better than he had been doing and was looking forward to the reward he had been promised. Illness hit the whole family and the promise had to be broken. As an adult, we understand that it was just delayed. But a child sees it as a broken promise. Fortunately his mom and dad worked hard at replacing the original promise with something that fit the altered circumstances and he was able to accept that.
There are also some promises that should NOT be kept. Promises that shouldn’t have even been made to begin with. These are the “promise me ____” and an acceptance before all the details are known. The most often used here is the “promise not to tell” one. Without knowing what you are promising to keep secret about, how can you honestly promise not to tell? A life may depend on you breaking that promise. Solomon shared instructions with us already about this kind of promise. “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame” (Proverbs 18:13, ESV).
There is One who NEVER breaks His promises. No matter what comes, no matter how hard, or how long the wait is; God’s promises ALWAYS come to pass. His ‘gifts’ are eternal. He will not make a promise He won’t keep. We may misunderstand some of His promises though. This can lead one down the road of doubt or mistrust. The only way to remedy this is to go back and examine the original promise and ask Him to show you its true meaning. He WILL do this when we ask with an honest heart. Not one with preconceived ideas.
God is also the one you should NOT break your promises to. But oh, how often we do! The promise to “never do that again” and “I’ll _____ faithfully if You will ____.” God wants us to honor our promises to Him; in the BEST way we can. He will forgive us when we fall short, but our ‘broken promises’ to Him also have consequences. One of the biggest of these is the ammunition we give to Satan to beat us up with. God forgives us when we come to Him but the Devil NEVER forgets our failures. He LOVES to bring them up to us at the most damaging times. He will continue to beat us up with them until we grab hold of one of God’s most precious promises and TRULY live in it. The promise of forgiveness which leads to right standing with Him. When we grasp the truth of this “gift” Satan can no longer hurt us with our past mistakes. And, yes, I too am still working on FULLY opening and accepting this gift from God.
So, whatever promise you make, for good or for bad, do ALL that is withing your power to keep it. If you have trouble keeping promises, STOP MAKING THEM. Your word is IMPORTANT.
Father God, I want to be faithful in keeping my promises. I don’t want to be an empty ‘rain cloud’. I want to be able to be trusted when I give my word. Help me in this area Father. Help me also know what promises NOT to make. Don’t let me trap myself by making promises designed to pleas others or make me look good. Those promises are the ones that get broken the fastest and do the most damage.
I cannot walk this road alone. Satan has a ‘bag full of faults’ ready to throw at me. Help me FULLY accept Your forgiveness. Help me walk in that gift. Help me remember to remind him of his future any time he reminds me of his past. And because he knows You, he KNOWS You will keep Your word, even the parts about him. Praise You Father that You WILL give him EXACTLY what You have promised!
