2 Corinthians 1:20 – Walking in His Promises

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJV)

When I read this verse, one of my favorite songs plays in my head. “All your promises are Yes and Amen.” Sound familiar? You can give it a listen here! The lyrics of this song talk about who God is and what He does for us. God is described as being a…

Father of Kindness – Giver of Mercy – Beautiful Saviour – Blessed Redeemer

And it says He has done these things for us… 

Poured out Grace – Brought us out of Darkness – Filled us with Peace – Helped us in times of Need – Broken every Curse – Set us Free

Do any of these things resonate with you? Is there a time you can look back and see how God has fulfilled His promises? If there’s one thing that holds true in this world, it’s that our god is FAITHFUL! He is faithful to the prodigal son and He is faithful to the person that lives every day of their life for His glory. He is faithful to ALL of us!

There’s a story I want to share about a promise God has given me. This story begins with a little seed that He planted within me at a very, very young age, and is filled with the highs and lows in how the calling God had set on my heart has evolved.

Spring 2013. I was early into college and had a childhood dream to become a professional dancer – a NFL cheerleader, to be exact. I poured a lot of time, energy, and money into this dream of mine. My first year out of high school I auditioned for the local NFL cheer team. I didn’t make it, but I was determined to spend the next year working even harder, preparing to try out again. Everyone in my life knew about this dream of mine and supported me chasing after it. I was filled with excitement, anticipation, and determination to get there. I knew that God had given me this talent and passion for dance. And I thought I knew He wanted me to pursue it and to push my dreams even further. So I did just that.

Fall 2013. A few months after auditioning, I was in a car accident on my way to school, where I was rear-ended on the freeway by a Uhaul moving truck. I wasn’t hospitalized or permanently injured, but the temporary setbacks that this accident brought into my life were God’s way of shaping me into the person He called me to be. I had a pretty serious neck injury, medical bills, and a lot of chiropractor and physical therapy appointments. As a 19 year old, I felt overwhelmed, defeated, and devastated. I had spent my whole life dancing and dreamt of the day I could stand on the sideline of a NFL team. I felt like one moment stripped away all my hopes and dreams. “How could God let this happen?” rang through my mind over and over again. Have you ever thought that to yourself? Maybe you’ve even said it out loud. But… little did I know that God’s promise to me wasn’t that MY dream would come true. It was that He had something even greater in store for me. He was going to make something great of me. All I had to do was listen, trust, and follow Him.

Spring 2014. God moved fast. I’m talking 12 months fast. It seemed like the longest wait, the driest spell. But looking back on it now, He threaded each and every step of the way together to create something so special for me and the life I would live. For a little bit of backstory, I really put all my hope and dreams into becoming a NFL cheerleader because of a “sacrifice” I had made after graduating high school. I was set on going to the University of Hawaii at Manoa for college. But when my mom had my little sister, Ella, my senior year, I knew the right thing to do was stay close to home. So I stayed home and watched many of my high school friends move away and become “independent adults.” Oh how this thought makes me laugh now! Anyways… months after the accident, I remember sitting in a Political Science class, listening to a group of students share their stories of studying abroad. And I vividly remember the thought “why would anyone do such a thing!?” crossing my mind. Which I’m sure made God laugh. Because a few months later, I found myself boarding a plane to fly to a little Spanish town called Valladolid for the summer – just an hour outside of Madrid. And this was just the beginning of God’s promises for me unfolding in my life. 

You might be wondering… “so…. what exactly was God’s promise to you?” If it still seems a little unclear, here it is! God’s promise to me was that He would make something out of me. He would fill me with His grace and send me to places where I would experience His creation and purpose for my life in brand new ways. When I was a little girl, God planted that seed in my heart. The seed of promise that He would make something big happen in my life. And what I had always believed it would be, wasn’t really what it was. Really, His promise was that He had a plan for me all along. A plan better and bigger than the greatest things I could have ever imagined wanting for myself. 

Spring 2020. Here we are, six years later. And you might be wondering what happened that Summer in Valladolid and how God used this to deliver His promise to me. Six years later, here I am sitting in my kitchen (working from home thanks to COVID-19; but very thankful to be able to do so!). And I have the spiritual knowledge and Godly comfort that His promises are always yes and amen. Even when we don’t think they are, we just don’t see it yet. God planted a seed into my heart that had me set on making something of myself, of doing something greater and bigger. I had thought it was one thing, but God showed me that it was another. In the six years since my car accident, I moved to Europe four times. F O U R T I M E S ! Me. The girl who sat in that Political Science class mindblown that anyone would ever want to study abroad. God sent me to Valladolid to study Spanish for a summer, to Barcelona to study International Business for seven months, back to Barcelona for a summer internship, and finally to London for graduate school. And don’t even get me started on the grad school thing… G R A D S C H O O L before 25? I would have never thought. But God sent me there. God promised me He would do amazing things in my life. He promised me I would find my own way and do incredible things. And He fulfilled that promise.

When we’re doing things for the glory of God, He will lead the way. He will make the way! Glorify Him in all things you do. Walk in His promises by leaning on Him and attuning your heart to His will for your life. Stop resisting, stop trying to control it, stop fighting His plans for you. Sometimes we have to endure the hardships and trials to celebrate the mountain tops and peaks we reach in life. Your muscles have to burn to strengthen. You have to struggle to dig deeper in your faith. In the midst of this story, there was no happy ending for me. Life as I knew it, life as I had planned it, was over. Dramatic, right? But a lot of us have felt that way before, when faced with defeat. But now, here I am, sitting at my kitchen table, reminiscing on how God has poured His grace into my life and brought me out of darkness. And I want you to know, He will do the same for you. All you have to do is listen. His promises are always and will forever be YES and AMEN!

— Madeline