Can I really believe God will do what He says?

When we talk about the integrity of someone’s word we are talking about how well we can believe that person when he says something. We wonder will he really do what he said.  You probably know of someone who, when they say they will be at your house at 5:00, you know not to even bother looking for them until 6:30. This person, we would say, has very little integrity in their word. You really can’t believe them when they tell you to meet them somewhere or that they’re going to drop something off at a certain time.

Have you ever heard someone exaggerate a story. Maybe one that you personally witnessed and know that things didn’t occur in the manner they were being told. It makes you wonder about some of the other stories you’ve heard from this person before. Were they exaggerated too?  We would say this person lacks integrity in their word as well.

When a person has integrity in their word you can believe the things that you here them say. Could you imagine a person who has absolute, perfect integrity in their word. That no matter what they say you know it’s true. They never do anything contrary to what they say. You could count on them 100% of the time. Well guess what, God has absolute, perfect integrity in His word. He never does anything contrary to what He says, He always speaks the truth, He cannot tell a lie, only truth can come from His lips. God couldn’t tell a lie if He wanted to because he releases enough faith in every word He speaks to cause that word to come to pass. If God had a headache, which I don’t think is possible, He would never say something like, “This headache is killing me”. Why? Because the headache would kill Him because everything He speaks is literally true.

There are many references in the Bible that say that we can have what we say. Think about that for a minute. If you had everything you said, what would happen? With most of us we say things like “This headache is killing me”, “I’m starving to death”, “I’m going to die if I don’t get there in time.” Listen to a person’s words and it won’t take long to find out how much integrity they have. A person of integrity will choose their words carefully, wisely, never be quick to throw out careless phrases that we just mentioned. This person realizes that they can have what they say and are being careful not to bring condemnation into their life. This doesn’t mean troubles won’t come. No, it just gives one less door for the troubles to enter through.  You see, your words are very powerful.  They have the power to keep you alive, and they have the power to bring death on you.

Prov 18:21 - The tongue has the power of life and death…

Now let’s investigate the integrity of God’s word. Think back to when God created light. The earth was there, the spirit of God was there, but light didn’t come into existence until God released the words “Let there be light”. God uses His words as a tool to accomplish something. God uses His faith, released in his words, to bring something into existence, or to make something happen. Let’s draw an analogy between how God uses His word and how a deer hunter, during bow season, uses his bow and arrow.

The man hunting the deer is standing, we’ll say, at point A. The deer is at point B. The man at point A wants to accomplish something at point B and that is a dead deer. Therefore the man will use a tool, his arrow, to accomplish this task. The man sends his tool from point A to point B. Much in the same way God in heaven, when he wants to accomplish something sends words, his tool, to accomplish it. Think again about the creation of light. The light didn’t come into existence until God spoke words. In fact just look at the creation account in Genesis: God said “Let there be light”, God said “Let the land produce vegetation…”, God said “Let the water teem with living creatures”. Here we can see God using His faith filled words to accomplish something. In Hebrews there is a passage that talks about how God created the universe.

Heb 11:1 - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

This passage is primarily talking about faith. Verse one explains what faith is, being certain of something even though you don’t see it. Verse three says that by faith and God’s command the universe was formed. It is very important we understand this concept. Faith is what created the universe but the faith was released by God’s commands, which are the words he speaks. Words are how you release faith to accomplish something. So, God’s words alone don’t accomplish anything, it’s his faith filled words that bring his will into existence. God always speaks truth. He cannot tell a lie:

Tit 1:2 - …which God, who does not lie…
Heb 6:18 - …it is impossible for God to lie

Ever wonder why is it impossible for God to lie? He can’t lie because he releases enough faith in every word he speaks to cause it to happen. In Isaiah 55:11 God speaks about his own words telling us how they operate, saying that they do what he sends them to do.

Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

God’s word lasts forever. When God said “Let there be light” the light came into existence and won’t stop until God says “Light stop”. God’s word goes out and accomplishes what he sent if for and it lasts forever or until he decides to stop it by using different words.

So what we have discovered here is that God has the utmost integrity in His word. If it’s anyone you can count on and believe it's God. God doesn’t just throw words around. He chooses them wisely. He sends them out to accomplish a task. When he uses His word to give you a promise, to use an old phrase, it’s something you can take to the bank!