Promises of God

The promises of God—things like a spouse, a fulfilling career, financial provision, joy, peace, and love—are beautiful, but they are not the ultimate goal. They’re more like a cell phone to a child. At some point, the child becomes fixated on having one. It becomes the desire of their heart. The parent, recognizing this, says, “If you’re responsible and obedient, I’ll give it to you.” The child listens, changes their behavior, and eventually receives the phone.

But soon after, the child begins to disobey. The heart posture shifts. The parent then takes the phone away—not to punish, but to reveal something deeper: that the child was only being obedient to get the gift, not because of love, trust, or relationship.

The parent longs not just for compliance, but for connection. They want the child to see that their love is not transactional. Over time, the child begins to understand. They see the love, grace, and patience behind the parent’s actions. They see their own disobedience in a greater light—not as a rule-breaking issue, but as a relational one. And from that place of revelation, the parent—gladly, joyfully—returns the phone, now knowing the child values their relationship more than the gift.

In the same way, God may promise us things and even bless us with them. But He may also take them away—not because He’s cruel, but because He loves us too much to let us replace Him with His gifts. If our hearts become more focused on the promise than on the Promiser, He will disrupt our plans to realign us with Him.

God’s promises are good—but they are not God. And the moment they begin to take His place in our hearts, He will lovingly step in, not to punish, but to invite us into deeper intimacy. When we truly seek Him first, not just His blessings, we’ll find that He’s eager to give us every good thing—because now we can handle it rightly.