The Key of Promise

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)

I don’t know if when you grew up, you were made to read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress like I was. It’s one of the Christian classics and is a must-read for believers.

Two characters, Christian and Hopeful, are walking the King’s Highway to the Celestial City. The path, once smooth and easy, becomes rough and hard. Then they come to an attractive place called By-path Meadow. They climb over a fence into the meadow and the new path becomes easy again, but only for a short time.

Soon the new path becomes rugged and steep. A terrible storm breaks out overhead. Exhausted by the effort to make their continued journey, Christian and Hopeful lie down and fall asleep. Suddenly, they are awakened by the owner of the meadow: the Giant of Despair.

The Giant of Despair drags them to Doubting Castle and throws them into an inner dungeon, where he taunts them and beats them and starves them. Hurt and confused, Christian and Hopeful slide into despair.

Finally, Christian and Hopeful begin to pray. Then Christian remembers that he’s carrying in his pocket a key called Promise. Quickly he uses his Key of Promise to open the door of the dungeon and then the gate of the castle, and freedom greets them on the other side. Soon they find themselves walking again up the King’s Highway.

My friend, there is a key in your pocket right now called Promise. All of God’s promises are “Yes” and “Amen” for the believer who is facing obstacles and troubles and circumstances that have you moaning in your own personal dungeon of despair.

Use the key. Find the promises of Scripture that apply to your situation and leverage those promises to propel you forward to freedom.