Promises

I just returned from having dinner with a friend of mine. It was nice to be with her. It had been almost a month since we had had the time to get together. She's a special friend.

As I was driving home, I looked up at the sky ahead of me and saw a beautiful rainbow.

It has been a long time since I have seen one. I am sure they have been there because we have been having good rainfalls lately. I think I just am not observant enough and miss many things that I should be seeing.

The first thought that popped into my head when I saw the rainbow was God's promises.

I know He promised not to destroy the earth with rain again but that was not really the promise I was thinking about. It was all the other promises He made to us.

Of course, my favorite one, and you all know this, is that He will never leave us and the other favorite one is that He will never allow anything to happen in our lives that He does not give the strength and grace to endure and the wisdom to handle.

Man! When my husband was sick with cancer, I really used that second promise and relied on it so very much.

I prayed it every morning before going in to check on him and begin the new day...the new day with cancer...the new day with such a positive thinking husband that he always made me feel ashamed for ever even THINKING negative. It takes alot of faith in the Lord to be the way my husband was. He knew God's promises and he recited them constantly. He knew His Lord was keeping them with him.

And every day I saw and felt the Lord keeping those promises with me...to never leave me and to provide the strength for anything that happens. I am not a "nurse" type person and I never would have been able to handle the things that happen if it had not been for the special strength, patience, wisdom, and love that God supplied.

I never dreamed how much I would continue to rely on those promises after my husband died. I still know the love and the protection, the wisdom and the patience, the guidance and the knowledge that He gives me each day....and the comfort that I am not alone, no matter what happens with friends or family....He is always holding me in His arms in a tight, warm "bear" hug. I feel his presence and his strength all the time

And the people He brings into my life...the new friends, the old friends, people from everywhere that He blesses me with. That is part of that "He will never leave me alone" verse. And He hasn't...and He doesn't...and He won't. I can rely on that promise.

I can relax and rely on Him...and His promises...and His love. Thank you, Lord.

Now I must be sure to keep my promises to Him that I make. Lord, teach me more.