A while ago, I promised somebody very close to me that I would reveal a piece of information and when it came time to reveal that information, I danced circles around it and then kept the information closer to my chest. Like a well trained politician, I switched topics and rapidly digressed into other areas of conversation, but it was all to no avail. This close friend saw through my illusions and simply said, “You disappointed me today.” Truth be told, I disappointed myself that day — I thought I was ready to man up and lose control of what may become of my image and my ego and lay all my cards on the table; but doubt filled my mind and overpowered God’s insistence that I, myself, be redeemed through this friend. I kept saying in my head, “My friend isn’t ready for this burden.” Then I sold the lie to myself and believed in it. My attempt to unburden my life and allow somebody else light up the darkness in it failed when I held back my promise. With his wifes full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles feet. – Acts 5:2 Ananias and his wife Sapphira promised God one thing– the entire proceeds from the sale of their land. What they did was they held back some of the proceeds and claimed the remaining portion was the result of the sale. It’s very clear from the passage we read that this is exactly what had happened. The question is why did they do this? I want to speculate on that for a while this afternoon. Maybe for the same reasons I withheld my promise. It could have been fear that they would lose control of their own well being or it could have been greed. However, after all is said and done, it was a lack of belief. Just as in the moment of doubt I had, doubt flooded the minds and hearts of Ananias and Sapphira and they couldn’t trust that their needs would be met. See the problem was never that they doubted. The problem here was that they committed to something and they reneged on their promise. Look at Acts 5:4, “Didnt it [land] belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasnt the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God. The answer is “yes” it was theirs and they were free to do whatever they wanted. They chose what they wanted to do and then turned back on it. When we make commitments we have the same power; we are free to do as we please until we say otherwise. So when I encounter a person who commits to something and then turns back, it hurts me to see them– they lost out on an opportunity to see what their full sacrifice in freedom would produce in real life and so too, we lose opportunities when we turn back on our commitments to people and especially to God. I still live with that burden of holding back my promise to my friend and it’s a penalty I have to live with. I’m sorry to my friend, but more so to God. I committed a promise in my heart and I fell disgracefully. Perhaps you also experience this in the form of regret. It is the reality in which we live. The good news is that God, regardless of our inability to keep promises, fulfilled His promise to us in His Son Jesus. God is “all-in” with us in His promise to us. His grace upon our lives shows us that we can still comeback from our failure to keep a promise. In fact, I occasionally remind my friend of the grace I was shown on that disgraceful day and I am glad I am still welcomed. Are we willing to reciprocate grace on other people’s broken promises and are we going to now start bringing forth our own promises back to God in a worthy sacrifice before Him or are we still too afraid of what we will lose as a result?
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