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On a recent Sunday I was thinking I would have a quiet week. My brother had agreed to come down and help cut a few trees down and I was watching a tropical system that would bring rain at the end of the week. While quiet weeks are nice, I was considering what else I might like to get done.

I went to a funeral, wrote my column and did a little laundry. It was a nice and quiet day. As we were about to sit down for dinner, the phone rang. At first, I intended to allow the machine to pick up. Then for some reason, I walked over to hear which telemarketer was calling. Instead, it was my sister-in-law, and the news wasn’t good.

My father-in-law had a medical emergency. The quiet week turned upside down. Phone calls and texts became our lifelines to information and updates. I placed my father-in-law on our church prayer chain. We had a long night of prayer and intercession.

Word came in the morning that he would have surgery in the afternoon. More prayer and intercession. I received word from my congregation that they were praying with us. Late that evening we received word that he did wonderfully in surgery. He has some recovery to go through, but he is a fighter and we have hope. That’s the power of prayer.

After two nights of scant sleep, my brother arrived to help cut some trees. I figured I could power through a few hours of work. It would feel good to do something physical. Seven hours after we began, my brother and I dragged in from cutting and cleaning up way more than I expected. I was so happy and pleased with the way things looked, even though my body was complaining.

I was worried about my brother driving home after working so hard. I sat on my porch praying for him and resting. Praying … all of a sudden it hit me … I had prayer at church in a few minutes … and I was in charge. I moved … as fast as my body would allow me … and made it to prayer meeting. I got us started and then I went outside to pray. I tried to walk around the property, but my body refused, so I got out a chair and sat in the parking lot.

At one point, I looked up at our steeple. Something caught my eye. There was a rainbow right over the church. It was faint, but there it was. Actually, it was a Sundog. It was beautiful. It made me think about God’s promise to Noah after the flood, and I turned to that scripture passage. God promises us that every time there is a rainbow in the sky that He sees it and remembers His promise to us. He will never destroy all life with a flood again.

The rainbow is a sign of God’s promise, and He keeps all His promises. Do you know that the Bible is full of promises from God? I sat there and thought about so many promises that are in the Bible. God promises never to leave us or forsake us. God promises to hear our prayers. God promises to forgive us when we repent. God promises to heal a nation if the people repent before Him.

Life is full of good and bad times. It’s in those dark and difficult times that we can forget that God loves us and that He is a promise-keeping God. I believe that many of you are holding on to promises that you have not seen fulfilled yet. Don’t give up. Hold on. God keeps all His promises. He will not fail you. He will come through for you.

I was reading in II Peter today where it says a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. When you are waiting on God it feels like forever, but I have seen God move and watched all the pieces come together in one day.

Sometimes God is working behind the scenes and we have to give Him time. Know this: He is always working on your behalf, for your best and to fulfill the promises in your life.

I want to encourage you to hold on to those precious promises from God. Never give up on Him, because He never gives up on you. He is there beside you, cheering you on. He is faithful, loving and kind. Stir up your faith, turn your eyes on Him and you will see those promises come true for you.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041 or doug@dougcreamer.com.