Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

This whole passage is a prime example of conditional promises. The Bible is loaded with such “if…then” statements, but we are prone to claim the “then” statements and ignore the “if” conditions. The Bible is indeed a guidebook for life, telling us how to navigate its complexities, but ignoring it is like trying to put gasoline in the crankshaft and lubricating oil in the fuel tank of a car: it just doesn’t work. God delights to bless his children, as any good father does, but we have to understand and comply with the conditions for receiving those blessings. It’s not at all that God is stingy, it’s that He knows what is good for us and what is not. Going through the Bible reading the promises is not a bad thing, but rather than “name it and claim it,” we need to apply ourselves to get lined up with God to be able to receive the fulfillment of those promises.

I have been on the receiving end of more of God’s promises than I could count, but I have also missed out on some by failing to meet the conditions. Any time things don’t seem to be going as I think they should, I need humbly to ask the Holy Spirit where I am falling short, first of all, and then I need to trust God to know what is best, in timing as well as in every other detail. Often, seeming “failures of promises” are simply a matter of God’s timing being different from ours, and our not being at peace with that. Peter’s insight about God’s timing is as relevant today as it has ever been. (2 Peter 3:8-9) I am to focus on faithfulness, knowing that God will always be faithful and seeking to let His faithfulness be reflected in me, especially toward Him but also toward those around me, so that His promises may truly be fulfilled in, around, and through me, for His glory.

Father, thank You indeed for Your faithfulness. It’s so much better than I deserve! Help me be obedient to Your Word, in Scripture and as You guide me day by day, so that I may be fully effective in drawing others into the fellowship with You that You desire, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!