The problem with promises is that you have to trust them. You have to believe that they will be fulfilled, and live as if you believe that they will be fulfilled, before they can do you any good. We don't like to do that. We are cautious people. We want something to be thoroughly proven before we will believe that it is true. We want to investigate an enterprise thoroughly before we will invest in it.

But that doesn't really work with believing in God. There is a limit to what we can know about God without making a commitment. Much of what we need to know about God can only be experienced from the inside of a relationship with God. We have to take the risk of believing and trusting and venturing out in relationship with God before we can know for sure that the one whom we are trusting is …