{"id":79,"date":"2026-03-21T20:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T01:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/?p=79"},"modified":"2026-03-21T20:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T01:11:00","slug":"march-21-2026-826-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/?p=79","title":{"rendered":"March 21, 2026, 8:26 PM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

God:<\/em> Somewhere along the way, you learned that promises have an expiration date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That a promise is like fruit: it\u2019s there and delicious, but if you leave it too long, or if you don\u2019t get to it in time, it\u2019ll rot<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I know how to give good gifts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua: <\/em>\u2026Yes. You don\u2019t give us a stone when we ask for bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> Okay. This fear-based mentality is not Biblical<\/em>. I choose the time. I know the season<\/em>. If I tell you to take something, and you don\u2019t, it\u2019s true you may miss the opportunity. But if I delay it, I am not making it worse<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you remember the first time delayed gratification destroyed all<\/em> gratification?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> \u2026I think I remember something where I was a little kid, and ice cream was promised, and then by the time we got to it, it was all melted. But I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m making that up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, that\u2019s not an implausible story, I just don\u2019t want to make something up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did<\/em> often compete over desserts in my house growing up. So I made sure to have a little dessert as often as possible, or I might miss it<\/em>. We had a lot of dessert though, so I mean\u2026 it\u2019s not like I was without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> Joshua, I am not asking if your understanding was mature<\/em>. If it had been, we wouldn\u2019t be working through a lie now<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you remember wanting something, and it being gone later?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> (I nod) Yes. It\u2019s not\u2026 it\u2019s not something where like, I had no dessert <\/em>though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I sense God lean in)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> There we are. The adjacent lie. \u201cWhat I care about isn\u2019t a big deal, because I have substitutes\u201d. Okay\u2014let\u2019s apply that to me<\/em>. Should I not care about who comes to me, because other people are coming to me<\/em>? Should I disregard those who I don\u2019t have a personal relationship with, because I have a personal relationship with others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> Far be it from me to tell you<\/em> what to want!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I sense God raising an eyebrow\u2014not rudely, but with a direct playfulness)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God: <\/em>Joshua, do you realize how hypocritical what you are saying is?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> \u2026No. How is this hypocritical?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God: <\/em>(clears his throat) You say \u201cI should care what God cares about\u201d. Then you say, \u201cI am not qualified to define what God cares about\u201d. (tilts his head) So which is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> (I feel a bit sheepish) \u2026I don\u2019t want to answer, cause I know I\u2019m wrong now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> Joshua, let me outline three key lies here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. You are not allowed to want while you have good<\/strong>. If that were true, I should have not have wanted the Gentiles when I had the Jews<\/em>. Yet I want the whole world<\/em> to come to me. I do good for you, while I make additional promises<\/em>. Anticipation for the promise doesn\u2019t mean you are ungrateful<\/em>\u2014it just means you also anticipate what is coming!<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. If you have an alternative, you should not want<\/strong>. It was not wrong of the children of Israel to want quail, it was wrong of them to complain<\/strong><\/em>. Do you realize that I love to give good gifts? The Israelites complained in the wilderness\u2014that was the problem<\/em>. Complaining was the problem, not wanting. Trust me if I tell you \u201cstick with this, we are not getting an alternative\u201d. But unspoken needs are not the solution to complaining, gratitude is<\/em>. A sincere, grateful heart<\/em>, will often receive more<\/em>. Because a sincere, grateful heart has often received well<\/em>, and I know will steward more well<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Asking while you have is rude<\/strong>. Excuse me? \u201cHow much more\u201d. My gratitude doesn\u2019t have a limit. I do not say \u201cI am tired of giving to a gracious, grateful child\u201d. I am not a miser<\/em>. It is more offensive not to ask, when the king offers a gift of your choice, than to say \u201cno Lord, I may not\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Now, back to the first one: that initial lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cPromises rot\u201d. Am I the God of resurrection life? Or am I the God of atrophy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If I am merely the God of atrophy, you would atrophy<\/em>. But you resurrect. If I am capable of resurrecting you<\/em>, do you think I am not capable of keeping a promise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is good that you care so much about the promise. I care about it even more<\/em>. If I tell you to move, I know you will<\/em>. But I am not going to trick you\u2014I am not going to sabotage your purpose, throw my arms up, and say \u201cyou should have known\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Your promise isn\u2019t getting stolen. If it were, I would demand back seven times<\/em>. I do better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Do not worry. The promise will not come in a worse form. I will look out for it<\/em>. You will see it. I will look out for it until then<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    God: Somewhere along the way, you learned that promises have an expiration date. That a promise is like fruit: it\u2019s there and delicious, but if you leave it too long, or if you don\u2019t get to it in time, it\u2019ll rot. Do I know how to give good gifts? Joshua: \u2026Yes. You don\u2019t give us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}