Does God Change Our Futures By Speaking Promises?

The other day I was reading in 2 Samuel, and there is a very interesting study to be made of God's Promises.  In 2 Samuel 7, God promises David that He will establish His throne for ever.  It is a promise of blessing and direction, protection and provision.  The interesting thing is that the Promise is made by God, 4 chapters before David sins with Bathsheba.  God Knew full well what David was going to do, as every day of Davids life was already written, and God who is clearly outside of time can see everything, and knows full well what David will do.  Yet, He steps into time, prior to David's sin and speaks a promise to Him.

When I think about my life, I must realize that God can see the whole thing, the beginning from the end, and He still chooses to love me, to speak promises over my life!  We who are bound in time, have a hard time contemplating someone who lives in a timeless existence, and how they might interact with those of us who are bound in time.  I don't know if our image of Heaven is big enough to encompass God, I am sure it isn't.  I tend to think of it as this place where it is a spiritual reality that is running parallel to our terrestrial existence.  There are times when people enter Heaven, and before that time the person wasn't in Heaven.

The question is how about God?  He exists, in time, out of time, eternally, before the heavens and earth were made, He was.  He is omniscient and omnipresent.  He is in us, and all around us, in everything, involved in everything, aware of everything. He chooses to interact with us, in our lives, speaking into them, speaking promises over them, knowing full well the fruit His word will bear in our lives and the lives of others.

In our movies about time travelers, they are always warned about going back in time, and changing some small thing, that greatly affects their future reality, and it is often seen in their present day reality when thy make it back to today.  That is exactly what I think God does regularly (although He doesn't have to travel through time).  Thinking back on David's life, He had Samuel anoint him as the future King when He was still a boy (1 Sam 16), before He faced Goliath.  I am thinking that David might  have had a different response to Goliath, if he didn't have the promise that one day He would be king.

It really is an extraordinary line of thought, that God speaks into our lives, into time, and His purpose is to change the way we view ourselves, and ultimately the way we act and think as well.  He alone knows all, sees all and loves us beyond measure.  He knows what we need, what will speak to us, how to encourage us and how to direct us. His love and interaction with us is with the goal of us living eternally with Him, and loving Him in return.  He doesn't force or drive us towards Him, but rather pursues us in gentleness and goodness, loving us, blessing us, and being faithful to us.

I love this promise about God's word found in Isaiah 55:10-11 NIV:
[10] "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, [11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

So my question this morning, is what Has God spoken into my life or over my life?  What things have I heard, and what things do I need to hear again?  How has my life been affected by His promises and direction?  How has my life been different because of God's word?

Good Questions to ponder this day!