Promises

Politicians are often famous for the promises they do not keep.  Even as they make them, skeptics begin to challenge their validity.  Most of the time, they are forgiven.  The logic that seems to follow is that nobody can be expected to keep his or her words all of the time.  Far too often, I find that I accept and forgive failure.  I may not accept the individual, but I accept his or her inability to deliver on the promise. 
Candidly, if God's example is a model I believe in, I have it completely backwards.  I need to understand what it means to embrace the individual in their failure while never accepting the failure itself.
As I listen to politicians the world over, I find myself caught in words of their choosing.  I want to believe, no matter what the evidence suggests.  I want to hold onto a positive view of the future, no matter what the odds.  I want to live in the belief that others will solve the problems, no matter how large they might be.
There are flaws in my views.  They include the fact that promises are often much more difficult to keep in the future than they are when they were first made.  “When the four hundred years were nearly up, the time God promised Abraham for deliverance, the population of our people in Egypt had become very large.” (Acts 7.17)
To keep a promise means that I must stay connected to a Power that can deliver.  I know this is God.
To keep a promise means that I must be brutally connected to the present.  I know this means that I must stay close to God.
To keep a promise means that I must be engaged.  Walking with a God that is engaged in the fine print of life is essential.
There are promises and then there are real promises.  God promises to always be with you and me; in good times and bad, when we behave and even when we do not.  God will never break a Divine promise.