God Has Not Promised

Things don’t always work out as planned. The economy takes a turn for the worst so little Johnnie (who is not so little anymore) must enroll in the local community college and kiss his dreams and yours of attending an ivy league school goodbye. Mom must shuffle between being the domestic goddess she was meant to be and the new cashiers job at the 711 just down the block. Suddenly, Fido and little Fluffy find themselves eating the generic brand rather than the pretty one that comes in the nice pink package and promises to give them strong bones and glossy coats. Life takes on a new flavor altogether—and you don’t like the taste, either.

Well, cheer up!—let’s get real.

God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

God hath not promised we shall not know 
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear 
Many a burden, many a care.

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river, turbid and deep.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

This I write after watching a dear loved one stripped of the dignity of work and the promise of a bright future. Metastasized cancer can do that, you know. Sometimes—perhaps, most times for many—life is just not fair. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Disappointments come and go—but, mostly, they come. When these times come (I’m thinking of the bad times), then I dig out the words of “God Hath Not Promised Skies Always Blue” and read them through a couple of times until I start humming the tune along with the words, and I feel better. Why?

I’ll tell you why. It is because God has promised, and I find it to be true, that He will give strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.

And, friends, that is good enough for me; and you, too, I suspect. But, the sad facts are that many do not sense that comfort since they do not know the Great Comforter. Jesus is a mystery or a myth at best to them. Not the loving Shepherd that we know and sense daily.

So, please continue to join with me as we spread this good news around the world. For, Christ expressly says, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” John 10:16