2 Corinthians 1:20  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. (NIV)

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Yes, and amen. Standing on God’s promises is our Yes to what He has promised. Our Amen signifies our agreement, our alignment, and our attunement with the truth of those promises. We can afford to live as if God’s as-yet unfulfilled promises are already fulfilled. 

God always keeps his word. He always fulfills what he says he will do. Don’t you wish we could depend on people like that? The Corinthians had come to the place, at least some of them had, where they questioned Paul’s commitment to them. They felt he wasn’t keeping his promise to visit them again. They accused him of waffling. They said he was wishy-washy.

Have you ever received a letter or note where someone accused you of something that just wasn’t true? How did that make you feel? That initial burn at a false accusation probably hit Paul about the same way it hits us. He responded kindly and gently with a couple of paragraphs worth hearing again, in The Message paraphrase. 

“Confident of your welcome, I had originally planned two great visits with you—coming by on my way to Macedonia province, and then again on my return trip. Then we could have had a bon-voyage party as you sent me off to Judea. That was the plan. 

Are you now going to accuse me of flip-flopping with my promises because it didn’t work out? Do you think I talk out of both sides of my mouth—a glib yes one moment, a glib no the next? Well, you’re wrong. I try to be as true to my word as God is to his. Our word to you wasn’t a careless yes canceled by an indifferent no. How could it be? When Silas and Timothy and I proclaimed the Son of God among you, did you pick up on any yes-and-no, on-again, off-again waffling? Wasn’t it a clean, strong Yes? 

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭22‬ ‭MSG‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/97/2co.1.15-22.MSG

Doubt me if you must. Question Paul, if you dare. But trust Jesus now and always. He’s never wishy-washy, and he’s always true. He’s never early and never late. He’s always on time. He’s engineering an all-time happy ending. You don’t want to miss it. You’ve got God’s word on it. It’s only a matter of time – well, time giving way to timelessness. 

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I will stand on God’s promises that are truer than true and better than good. 

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Our Father, thank you that we can trust you for all things, in all things, now and always. Your word is the truth on which we stand. Your Spirit is the deposit on the gracious glory to come. We belong to you now and forever. Yes, and amen.