Promises

A wise man once told me, after a lifetime of working with dogs, never say “my dog will never do that.” No matter how well‑trained or well‑mannered they are, you’re still dealing with the unpredictable.

Belinda and I have always joked that we're basically the modern version of Green Acres. She appreciates the finer things in life. If we go to a nice restaurant, she's looking to see if the water glasses match the salad forks. Me? If they've got a clean spork, I'm good to go. Why dirty up three utensils when one will do the work?

She has never exactly been what you'd call an "outdoors person." Hunting, fishing, bird dogs, camping... those things don't naturally rise to the top of her vacation list. Her idea of enjoying nature is looking at it through a window with the air conditioner running.

Now, I've tried to ease her into my world over the years. My thinking was simple. If I introduced her slowly to bird dogs, four-wheelers, and walks through the woods, maybe one day she'd actually enjoy going with me.

She wasn't convinced.

Every time I'd invite her she'd say, "Something's going to eat me."

I'd laugh. "Belinda, there isn't anything in these woods that's not more afraid of you than you are of it."

One evening, I had a couple of young bird dog pups that needed some exercise. I finally talked her into riding the four-wheeler with me while we let those pups run the trails.

Everything was peaceful. The sun was getting low, the woods were quiet, and those pups were bouncing along about twenty yards ahead of us.

Then one little rascal slammed on the brakes, threw his nose in the air, and took a hard right up the hillside. His sister followed him like she'd been shot out of a cannon.

I figured they'd found a rabbit or a squirrel.

Then I heard that bark.

If you've ever hunted with dogs, you know the bark. It's the "booger bark!" I saw something that ain’t my normal.

I told Belinda, "Just stay on the four-wheeler. I'll go see what they've got."

I had barely climbed halfway up the hill when a little spotted fawn exploded out of the brush.

Right behind it came one of the biggest mama does I've ever seen.

She wasn't running from my pups.

She was running at my pups.

Those two puppies suddenly realized they had made a terrible career decision and turned around for home. They came down that hill wide open with that angry doe right behind them.

Unfortunately, "home" happened to be the four-wheeler...

...where my wife was sitting.

I was standing halfway up the hill thinking, Well... this probably isn't going to help her fear of the woods.

When that doe got within about twenty feet of the four-wheeler, Belinda let out the loudest, most blood-curdling scream I've ever heard. I'm convinced people in three counties looked out their windows.

Those pups hit the ground so fast you'd have thought they'd been flattened with a steamroller.

The doe locked up, turned back toward her fawn, and disappeared into the woods.

Meanwhile, I was lying on the hillside laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.

All I could hear echoing through the timber was Belinda hollering, "I TOLD YOU IT WAS DANGEROUS! I TOLD YOU SOMETHING WAS GOING TO EAT ME!"

We loaded those embarrassed pups back into the dog box and headed home.

On the way back I found myself saying another sentence I've had to repeat more times than I'd like to admit:

"Well... I've never seen that happen before."

I've learned to be careful with words like always, never, and I promise.

Life has a way of humbling us.

The Bible warns us not to make promises carelessly. Solomon wrote:

"It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay."

Ecclesiastes 5:5 (ESV)

Jesus said:

"Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil."

Matthew 5:37 (ESV)

Our problem is that we don't know tomorrow. We make promises assuming everything will go exactly as we planned, but life has a habit of throwing an angry mama deer into the middle of our carefully laid plans.

That's why James reminds us not to boast about tomorrow, because we don't know what a day may bring (James 4:13-16).

But here's the good news.

While we should be cautious about making promises, God never has to be.

He has never said, "Well... I've never seen that happen before."

Nothing surprises Him. Nothing catches Him off guard. Nothing ever causes Him to rethink His plans.

When God makes a promise, He already knows every obstacle, every detour, every failure, and every circumstance that will ever come to pass.

Paul said it this way:

"For all the promises of God find their Yes in him."

2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV)

People will disappoint you. Good intentions will sometimes fall short. Even our own promises can fail because we're limited and we simply don't know what tomorrow holds.

But not God.

If He says He will never leave you nor forsake you, He won't.

If He says He forgives those who repent, He does.

If He says eternal life belongs to those who trust Christ, you can build your life on that promise.

So maybe be a little slower the next time you say, "Never," or "I promise."

And if your spouse ever reluctantly agrees to ride through the woods with a couple of young bird dogs... don't guarantee that nothing exciting will happen.

There's probably a mama deer nearby that's just waiting to make a man eat his words.