What comes to mind when you hear the word “promise?” Perhaps, like me, you think of promises you’ve kept…promises you’ve broken…promises others have kept…or promises they said they would keep, and didn’t.

Christian ethicist Lewis Smedes wrote an article entitled “Controlling the Unpredictable—the Power of Promising.” He argues that we are largely who we become through making promises – and keeping them. Promise keeping is the means to freedom, he says, that when you make a promise with someone,

“…you have created a small sanctuary of trust within the jungle of unpredictability.”

Lewis Smedes

I love that. Especially in our own current global jungle of unpredictability. And it seems like God is doing a similar thing in Jeremiah 31 when He makes fresh promises to His people during a very dark and unpredictable time for Judah and for Israel. It was also a time when they refused to listen to the prophet Jeremiah’s desperate and repetitive pleas to turn back to God (see chapters 1-29 of Jeremiah!).

This eventually led to them being overtaken by their enemies and literally banished from living in their own land. They became exiles. Captives. Held as prisoners against their will in service to another enemy. Yikes.

And it is at this point – when God’s people are living in captivity – where we get a fascinating interlude from God through the prophet Jeremiah speaking words of promise and hope to his people in the midst of a seemingly hopeless situation. Sound familiar?

Let’s take a look at what some of these promises are to understand the full weight of them.

1. God promises to gather them and bring them back from captivity

“See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth.”

Jeremiah 31:8

This word “gather” is often associated with a shepherd gathering up his lost sheep. 

He makes it clear that it is not the strong and capable He will be gathering, but the blind…the lame…expectant mothers…women in labor. These are pictures of those are weak, vulnerable and helpless. God himself, like a great Shepherd, promises to gather them up one by one and bring them back from captivity – not because they did something to deserve it, but because He loves them.

In some ways it has felt like this Covid season has been one of ‘captivity’ for the world. How encouraging to hear this promise – that it is nothing we do to earn God’s rescue, but it is His love and initiative that compels Him to save us from the darkest and most difficult places of captivity.

2. God promises to turn them back to Himself

“They will come weeping; they will pray as I bring them back.” 

Jeremiah 31:9

Notice how there is a timing to this. Not before, not after but as the Lord gathers them they will turn and pray. This is a beautiful picture of repentance. It is interesting because for decades, Judah refused to turn back to their God despite all of the prophetic words of warning of the impending wrath and punishment that would come if they didn’t. It was only when God himself gathers them that they will be moved to finally turn.

How often do we need to hear this promise – that even in our darkest times of feeling so far from God, even when we are unable or unwilling to repent of our own rebellion – he promises to gather and restore us back to himself.

3. God promises that they will rejoice in and be filled once again with his bounty

“They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. ¹³ Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.¹⁴ I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 12, 14

This promise of bounty is one of abundant provision. They will have all they need and all they have lost will be restored to them. Their sorrow will be transformed into comfort and joy. These incredible promises of material, spiritual and emotional provision come from a God whose sources never run dry.

How often do we need to hear this promise – that our God of bounty knows intimately our struggles and our losses, and has provision of restoration and healing. Nothing is impossible for him. Our many sorrows will be turned into joy. Hallelujah.

Promises of deliverance come while we are still captives

But let us not forget that this word of hope came when they were still captives, still exiled from their land and still far from God in their hearts. I can’t help but wonder how impossible it must have seemed to them and to Jeremiah even, that these things could actually come to pass one day.

This resonates with me as I reflect on another Covid year passed and a New Year still very much stuck in the mire and muck of it all. Everything still seems uncertain and unpredictable. It feels daunting and dark. Bewildering and bleak. Sometimes we might even wonder: How could God possibly rescue, redeem and turn things around in this messy world around us? It just doesn’t seem possible.

Just like the exiled Israelites, we are often called to wait—sometimes excruciatingly—in that period in between when the promise is proclaimed…and when it is fulfilled. But the good news is that unlike the Israelites under the Old Covenant, we have something they didn’t have: Christ and His Spirit. I love it when Paul says to the Corinthians,

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.”

2 Corinthians 1:20

What did he mean? That it is in this this place of waiting…in Christ…held by power of the Spirit…and enveloped by the love of the Father…where we can cling to that “yes” to all the promises of our triune God. And when we do, we are somehow given the grace to believe that they really will indeed come to pass… in His way and in His perfect timing.

God wants to awaken our hearts anew this year to His ancient promises

How might God want to awaken our hearts anew to His promises entering into this New Year? Perhaps He is promising anew…

• …to gather you (or or a loved one) up from that place of “captivity” – delivering you from that fear, worry, sin or sickness?
• …to help you (or a loved one) turn back to him from the far-off places of complacency, carelessness and distraction?
• …abundant provision in that place of real need right now—relationally, spiritually or financially?

Whatever it is, let us be re-awakened this year to the awesome promises of God no matter what is happening (or not happening) around us. And let us rejoice that they never fade or fail but are ALL a big hearty “yes” IN Christ. I pray that this New Year will indeed – perhaps in the most unexpected of ways – be a year, as the psalmist proclaims,

“…crowned with the bounty of the Lord.”                                               

Psalm 65:11

Don’t walk the New Year alone

It is always a healthy habit this time of year to take time out to reflect. We take stock of the year that has passed and prayerfully envision what may be ahead. Often we have high hopes of doing such a practice, but we often don’t get to it or it feels too daunting. That is where coaching can come in, a person to come alongside and serve as a conversation partner for you, helping to ask that deep questions that facilitate a process of reflection, action, growth and change. Check out my coaching page and book a free consultation and we can talk more. I would love to partner with you to achieve your goals and dreams as you step into the fulness of His bounty in the coming year!