Speaking of Life 2038 | Double Booked
Michelle Fleming
Have you ever made the same promise to two different people? In our fast-moving world we may easily do this unintentionally. Like promising to meet a friend for dinner only to remember you already told another friend you would help her with a project. Or maybe you promised to take your daughter to a movie the same night you scheduled to watch your son’s baseball game. It’s the classic mistake of double-booking. It may have been a simple mistake, but it introduces a complex problem. You will have to choose who to break your promise to.
Doing this can become tricky. You don’t want to appear to play favorites and you don’t want to create tension between your two friends or in your family. Hopefully they will understand. But there is the risk of hurt feelings, maybe even some jealousy not to mention damaged trust. However, you slice it, double-booking can be divisive in your relationships.
It may be awkward for us to double-book, but it can be very painful to be on the receiving end. Especially if you are the one who must endure the broken promise. Even when you know it was an honest scheduling mistake, it still hurts to know your friend or loved one passed the broken promise to you.
An experience like this may make us wonder if God ever “double-books.” The Bible is full of promises the Father makes to his children. Is it possible he has over promised? Will he need to take back his promise to you in order to keep it with someone else? The answer of course is ABSOLUTELY NOT! The promises of the Triune God of love are aimed to bring peace in all our relationships, not to divide them. Psalm 133 gathers up rich imagery from Israel’s history as a description of God’s promises kept.
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133:1-3, NIV)
Our Father has no problem keeping his promises, even when he “double-books.” In fact, in Jesus we find that he goes far beyond just “double-booking.” He extends his promise of blessing to everyone in his Son Jesus Christ. You can rest assured that the Father’s promise to you will not be taken back by his promise to another. His glory is for all of our good.
I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.