How good do you have to be to live in the promises of God? Where’s the cut off line for that?

Do you wonder if you could ever be good enough for God to really love you? Do you fight to get yourself in that good positioning, then struggle to stay there? And when you’re not there, when you know you’re falling short, do you fear God’s promises over your life being withdrawn?

Well, listen closely sister, this one is for you – God’s promises depend on GOD, not on you. God alone is good enough. God alone fulfills his promises. Jesus has made you forever good enough and you don’t have the power to undo that.

God’s promises for you are true whether you believe them or not. His promises are at work all around you in every detail, even when you fail to remember them. You can’t cancel God’s promises, but you can create unnecessary problems when you forget them.

In our study of Genesis, we started with Adam and Eve, then 9 generations later we have Noah. 9 generations after Noah, we have Abraham. Abraham’s birth name was Abram, so don’t be confused when you read scripture and you see both names being used. In Genesis 12, Abram received a mission and a promise from God. First the mission in verse 1, “Leave your native country, your relatives, your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” Now, the promise in verse 2 & 3, “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

Imagine knowing with absolute certainty that God is blessing your mission. Imagine knowing you will most definitely succeed. Imagine knowing God himself has promised to take care of you and clear out anyone that might come against you. That was the promise Abram received.

But Abram was not perfect. He was chosen, but not perfect. He was blessed but still flawed. He didn’t always get it right.

God specifically tells Abram not to take any of his father’s family on this journey, but he takes his nephew Lot. Why would he do that? Maybe he thought he would need help for the journey. You see, sometimes we think we need help and we start grabbing people to take with us, forgetting that God alone is all the help we need. This nephew of Abram’s causes him many troubles on the journey, and that’s what happens when we don’t trust God enough to follow him completely.

Does God remove his blessing when we fail him? No. But we create unnecessary problems for ourselves.

What unnecessary problems are you living in right now because you didn’t trust God to be enough? What stress here is self-created? What overwhelm was formed with your own choices, not God’s hand? Do you see it? Yeah, you did that. You can’t go back and undo it, but you know what you can do – You can learn the lesson and move forward. God’s blessings are still on you and you can trust him fully.

One thing I’m learning about God is how incredibly patient he is with us. Wow, I’ve been so slow to learn the lessons. It’s taken me YEARS of unnecessary problems to see God is all I ever needed. It’s my lack of trust in him that creates my worry. It’s my lack of full obedience to him that builds my overwhelm. And yet, he blesses me. Still he guides me. Still his good plans for me stand.

He is patient with me. He was patient with Abram. And oh honey, he is patient with YOU!

Abram’s journey of faith with God takes him to Egypt where he faced the power of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt. And this is where fear struck Abram. He knew his wife Sarai was beautiful and she would be noticed by the Egyptians. And he feared the Egyptians would be jealous of him and kill him so they could have his beautiful wife. So, Abram concocts a plan to protect himself from harm. And here’s his plan: “Sarai, tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”

And sure enough, the plan works … for a little while. That’s the thing about our plans. They work … temporarily. God’s plans work … eternally. Our plans eventually fail and then we’re left with a mess. God’s plans are without fail and are guaranteed success. Abram is working in his own plan instead of God’s plan now, and temporarily it worked.

Pharaoh loved the beauty of Sarai and took her into his palace and married her. To impress Abram, believing this was his sister, Pharaoh sent him many gifts.

But this was NOT God’s plan – this was Abram’s plan. Abram’s plan of self-protection soon turned into a problem. Verse 17-19, “God sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. ‘What have you done to me?’ he demanded. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘she is my sister, and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!”

And now there is conflict with Egypt. This conflict would grow and continue. And it was all unnecessary. Why did it happen? Because Abram followed his own plan in fear instead of remembering God’s promise in faith.

God has promised to bless Abram. He had promised to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. You see, God had the Egyptians already taken care of. If they tried to harm Abram and Sarai, God would have stepped in. God’s promise was over them all along, but Abram inserted his own plan out of fear.

And that’s what we do. We forget the promises of God when we’re facing uncertainty, and we do stupid things. Anything you are trusting more than God is a problem. What is it you are trusting in more than God? Who are you trusting in more than God? Is it your husband, your job, your wealth, your looks, your talents? That will be a problem for you.

Abram trusted his lie to protect him and his wife more than he trusted God to protect him and his wife. And this caused a mess. It didn’t cancel God’s promise, but it created an unnecessary problem.

Abram trusted the help of an additional hand in his nephew Lot more than he trusted God to be his helping hand without taking family along. And this caused a mess. It didn’t cancel God’s promise, but it created an unnecessary problem.

Looking back, I realize just how many unnecessary problems I’ve accumulated. Each problem a result of trusting my plan, my performance and my perseverance more than God’s promise. My story goes a lot like this:
Pamela trusted her ability to show up, turn it on, and make it happen through sheer willpower, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems.
Pamela trusted the applause, the success, the money, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems.
Pamela trusted her goals, her appearance, her circle of friends, more than she trusted God – so there were unnecessary problems.

God’s not finished with me. He’s lovingly teaching me every time I stumble and showing me how faithful he is to his promises for me. His faithfulness changes me.

God wasn’t finished with Abram. He didn’t give up on him just because he lied, just because he made a mess, just because he failed. No, God reminded Abram of his promise and set him free time and time again.

God isn’t finished with YOU. He hasn’t given up on you just because you’ve made a bit of a mess here. He’s simply reminding you of his promise over you. His promise of GOOD PLANS for your future. His promise to never leave you and never give up on you. His promise of strength, guidance, peace, forgiveness, and an eternity in paradise with him.

God’s promises never depended on you. They depend on him. Luke 1:37 tells us, “God’s word will never fail.” His promises are forever. You can’t wander your way out of them. His promises are still covering you and the more you trust them, the less problems you will self-create.

God’s promises depend on GOD, not on you. God alone is good enough. God alone fulfills his promises. Jesus has made you forever good enough and you don’t have the power to undo that.

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