I was in the company of three mischievous cousins ​​when we met a charming young woman who they claimed was a childhood friend. I hadn’t met her before so I started asking general questions in my quest to get to know her better. One of my cousins ​​interrupted our conversation, he jokingly asked if he was available because he wanted a woman to settle down with.

She quickly replied that she was off limits, taken, and absolutely committed. With a twinkle in her eye, she raised her left arm to display a dazzling ring on her middle finger. With the seriousness with which she responded, I thought that she was actually at least traditionally married.

Interested, I asked her if she was married because I felt she was too young. She told me that her boyfriend had not yet done the necessary customary rights that would make him claim her but “he had promised.” I was surprised at the way she had completely believed in her promise without considering the possibility that the knight might break it.

Before I could utter a word, the notorious young men in my company unanimously broke out into a popular song of praise. “He has promised that he will never fail, I will adore him, I will adore him. He has promised that he will never fail, his faithfulness is forever, his faithfulness is forever.” We all laughed and the boys continued to make fun of her. She got upset and told the young people that they didn’t know what was going on.

She added that they were jealous and vehemently defended her boyfriend’s undying love for her. I don’t know how the story will end, but I pray that it ends happily ever after and that the gentleman fulfills her “promise” to walk her down the aisle. Although I found it funny at the time, I know it won’t be a funny situation if her boyfriend breaks her promise.

When I was going through marriage counseling, my husband and I were so sure that we would definitely end up together. We had made up our minds and had gone through all the necessary processes. There were only a few days left and all we had to do was the traditional marriage ceremony followed by the wedding itself. The knocking ceremony was out of the way, it had been announced at the church and the invitations had already been sent out.

One day during counseling, the wise priest made it clear to us that until we were declared man and wife after exchanging our wedding vows, either of us could change our minds. We were surprised because none of us had considered changing our minds, or was I wrong? As if he were answering my question, my husband told the priest that he was not going to change his mind.

I also told him that I was not planning to change my mind. She smiled at us and gave us examples of couples whose partners changed their minds within days of their wedding. Some had made announcements at church and had already sent out invitations. However, some were left alone at the altar. The sweet promises they had made to each other lay broken before their very eyes. From that moment on, it was in the back of my mind that anything could happen on the walk down the aisle.

A popular Boyz II Men song captivated the hearts of many in its day, as its lyrics promised endless love. “I swear (I swear) by the moon and the stars in the sky that I’ll be there (I’ll be there) I swear (and I swear) like the shadow that’s next to you I’ll be there (I’ll be) I’ll be there) for good or for ill (for better or worse) till death do us part I’ll love you with every beat of my heart and I swear, I swear, I swear If you know this song I’m sure you’re already singing it, that is if you remember the lyrics.

Who wouldn’t want such sweet words backed by promises until death do us part? However, it is safer to believe such words at the marriage altar where they are said before a crowd of witnesses and before God. Promises are beautiful but they can be broken. In fact, they usually break. Don’t you remember a time when you were so sure to keep a promise but you were surprised when you broke it? In other words, adding weight to a promise by using it will not make it come true.

Numbers 23:19 tells us that God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. He has said he, and he will not? Or he has told himself, and he will not execute it? That means that a man or a woman can lie or change his mind, only God does not break his promises to his children. He’s the only one who stands out for actually doing what he says he’ll do. King David said of the Lord in Psalm 138 verse 2 “For you have magnified Your Word above all Your name.”

That is why Jesus warns us in Matthew 5:33-37 “Do not swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is the throne of God, nor by the earth, because it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. And don’t take an oath on your head, because you can’t make a hair black or white. What you say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

It is not uncommon to see many single women wearing promise rings from their lovers who promise to marry them in the future. Some even wear it on their wedding ring finger to deter other suitors. What a dangerous thing to do! What if the promise is broken and all the good men who thought you were married didn’t dare come near you? What if a man who could have made you happy passed you on to the next single woman without a ring on her finger?

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it, for he does not take pleasure in fools; pay what you promise. It is better not to promise than to promise and not pay.” This verse shows our fallibility as human beings and reiterates that it is better not to make a vow or promise than to make one and not keep our part of the bargain. If we as humans are able to break our vows to God himself despite the repercussions, isn’t it easier to break the promises we make to our fellow man?

After all, there are so many excuses that can be appropriately used to break a promise to a partner. By using clever excuses like my mom doesn’t like you, the promise-breaker gets out of the way. Some even tell their partner that their parents disagree with tribal differences or that they had a vivid dream that revealed their ruin if they married.

I’m not casting a negative light on making promises we intend to keep, but rather on broken promises that have left many women broken. Sometimes heartbreak and disappointment are deliberately unplanned. A man can be serious at the moment when he promises heaven on earth. However, let us not forget Numbers 23:19 which reveals how man is prone to change his mind. Momentary feelings can be fickle, and trusting them completely can spell doom.

In the world of love and romance, men will continue to make promises to women. Some will keep these promises while others will break them for one reason or another. Women will also continue to commit to men who have not taken serious steps to marry them. It is up to us to keep in mind that man-made promises can be broken unlike God-made promises.

With this understanding, we can pray to God to allow his will for our lives to come to pass. Reminding him of the promises he makes to us in his word and the fact that he cannot lie. In this way, we challenge him to grant us the desires of our hearts. Promise rings are beautiful symbols of love and many find them attractive. But the invisible seal of constant prayer over a bare-fingered single woman is better than a token promise that can be broken.

When a single woman’s fingers in a relationship are left bare, her man knows that he attracts others who may be quicker to deliver on their promises without any signs of delay. He prepares to quickly claim the woman he loves. The woman who constantly prays to God to fulfill her desire for her life has nothing to prove to the world. God makes sure to prove to the world around her that he is a God who does not lie.