Promises

Do you ever try to make promises to God? I sit here laughing at what I just asked! Just the thought that I, created and fallen sinner, would think that I could actually keep a promise to God, the Creator....GOD!!!

As ridiculous as I feel writing, I laugh just thinking about all the promises I've told God in different situations:
~If I have my quiet time every day, would You please give me ______.
~I promise to seek You always if _______.
~If You will do ______, I promise I will never ask for anything again.
~If you do _______, then I know I am loved.
And I'm sure there are MANY more that I just can't remember.

These promises show me that I ASSUMED God would actually "bargain" with me; or that if my works were good enough, He would give me what I hoped for. I didn't trust that He loved me or that it would all work in His timing. I was putting what I wanted over what He was doing. I trusted him with the outcome, but wasn't always trusting Him in the process of getting to the outcome. Is it bad to make promises to God?

During my study of David, I was reading 1 Samuel 1-19:28 and still discussing Hannah. She promised God that if she could have a baby, she would give him to God for the rest of his life. Here is what Beth Moore said of Hannah, "Samuel learned faith from his mother - a woman whose faithfulness evidenced her faith, a woman with compulsory praise on her lips. She met painful sacrifice with a song."

My promises I try to make with God sound much like Hannah's. I believe that even though we are fallen and try to bargain with God, He knows our hearts. He knows we can't keep certain promises, but I want to be faithful in keeping my promises. He knows my heart! How amazing was Hannah to give her son to serve the Lord at age 3???? She was so thankful for what the Lord had given her that she gave the sacrifice to the Lord.

By the time I had met Ken, I had learned that God wasn't punishing me by not allowing me to be married. I had learned that if I was to be married, it would happen in His timing. I also remember promising that if I ever got married, I wouldn't take forgranted of my husband. I would remember to enjoy everything....even laundry and doing the dishes....b/c I would have someone to share my life with. I thank God everyday for Ken! There are days that I struggle with my attitude on certain things that we are dealing with, but I am so very thankful that I he is in my life.

My prayer is that I remember to appreciate every moment when we have kids and our family grows. Oh, to be a mother like Hannah! How her faithfulness to the Lord was the most important thing to her! She knew only God could give her the desires of her heart. She trusted God with her son's life. She praised God for the gift of having a son by giving her son back to the Lord. I pray Ken and I raise our children to love, trust and obey their Lord and Savior.

Beth Moore closed this devotional with a prayer that I just love:
"Lord God, may I want nothing greater for my children than that they should be taught by You, established on a foundation of righteousness (Is. 54:13-14). May I faithfully tell them of Your might and the wonderful works You've performed, that they might put their confidence in You - that they might become a generation whose heart is loyal and whose spirit is faithful to You (Ps. 78:4, 7-8)."