After spending a week cleaning and sprucing our house in preparation of its sale, we put it on the market. Within three days we had three strong offers. One potential buyer offered to pay an amount well above our asking price ~ in cash. An offer too good to refuse.

But even as we signed our acceptance and met with the buyer’s agent, my husband and I had misgivings. I mean, honestly, it felt like an offer too good to be true. 

Two days later, our doubts turned into reality. The buyer did not honor the contract and backed out of the deal. Some of the details surrounding the situation made us question if the buyers ever truly meant to fulfill their promise. Our acceptance of their too-good-to-refuse deal bought them more time to decide if they truly wanted this house.

The whole experience left me wondering about promises, and the people who make them. 

Like all of us, I have been duped by unfulfilled, false, and broken promises. Intentional or not, people who fail to follow through on their promises create hurt feelings and a reluctance to trust. 

When I began studying the Bible over thirty years ago, I quickly noticed Jesus makes many promises ~ often too-good-to-be-true ones. Here are a few of my favorites:

Light of the world: Jesus promises when we follow Him, we will never walk in darkness because He will light our way. (John 8:12) I find comfort in knowing His light pierces the darkness of this world.

Good Shepherd: Jesus promises to guide and protect us as a good shepherd. He will lead us to a full and abundant life. (John 10:10-11)

Heavenly Home: Jesus promises to prepare for us a place in Heaven and will return to take us home. (John 14:1-3)

On their face value, any of these promises can feel too good to be true. But the Apostle Peter reminds us we can rely on the promises of Jesus:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV)

The great and precious promises we receive through Jesus come from God’s own glory and goodness. The Greek word areté used here as goodness can also be translated as virtue. God’s unwillingness to compromise His glory or virtue makes His promises reliable. 

Too-good-to-be-true promises can only be trusted when made by a trustworthy person.

When the purchase of our house fell through, we accepted one of the other original offers. This one also appears too good to be true since the buyers offered to pay more than the asking price. But even though the sale won’t be final for a few weeks, I feel more hopeful. To date, these buyers have fulfilled every responsibility in their purchase contract. Their genuineness make them more trustworthy.

As I continue down the road to life, I will continue to trust the One who genuinely loves me and will lead me home. Wherever the road leads you, I pray you can do the same.