When someone promised to be there - and didn't come

Hello friend.

Have you ever been promised something that never quite arrived?

Maybe a friend said, “let’s meet up soon,” and soon never came. Or a parcel was on its way and you kept checking the door for three days. Or someone said, “I’ll be there for you,” and then life pulled them away somewhere else.

Those small broken promises leave a quiet ache. Not loud. Just a low hum of disappointment that settles in the kitchen, in the empty front room, and on the long walk upstairs at night.

But I want to tell you about a promise that isn’t like that.

In John 14:18, Jesus said to his closest friends, “No, I will not abandon you as orphans. I will come to you.”

Notice what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t send a stand-in. He doesn’t promise a replacement or a messenger or some spiritual assistant who sort of knows him. He promises himself.

And in the little Book of Haggai, God speaks the same kind of promise. “I am with you, says the Lord.” He says it on a dusty building site, to weary people, in the middle of an unfinished job. Not a mountaintop moment. A Monday.

Here’s what I’m holding onto this week: your kitchen counts. Your quiet front room counts. The long walk upstairs at the end of a tired day counts too. Jesus has come, and he is staying.

If you’d like the full 5-minute devotional, with a small step of faith you can try in your own home today, you can watch it here

With love and prayers.

Rob

Read this week’s devotionals here - https://open.substack.com/pub/battledrilldevotional/p/you-are-not-alone?r=643q6o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true