Five Golden Rings

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS

Unbroken Promises in a Broken Season

 “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’” — 2 Corinthians 1:20

      “Five golden rings.”  Let's be honest, you didn't read that, you sang it out loud.  This is the most iconic moment in the song.  The tempo slows.  The melody expands.  The words almost demand to be sung with strength.  We have also finally moved on from birds.  I imagine that five rings is a lot better than the ten combined birds from the previous four gifts.  I personally think that the change of tempo in the song is quite fitting, because golden rings represent permanence, commitment, and covenant—things that feel like they vanish when you’re grieving.  Losing someone makes life feel fragile.  For the first time in your life you probaby feel mortal.  You start to ask questions that you probably should have asked all along.  Once solid routines and life's predictability  collapse around you.  Traditions change.  Tragically relationships shift.  Dreams that you spent decades building slip through your fingers like sand.  The future becomes a place that is both uncertain and scary.

      But the five golden rings remind us that while life breaks, God’s promises do not.  The old hymn tells us that we are to stand upon the promises of God.  To a person grieving, those promises carry a little more weight than they used to.  Those that are grieving have asked questions like 'is God still with me' or 'Does God still have a plan for my life and is it a good plan' or 'is there still hope for my life, or 'does He still care?'  Those are perfectly normal questions to ask, but the promises of God remind us that when everything else feels unsteady that we can hold onto the precious promises of God.  Let's look at a few of those promises that cry out to us.

      The first promise is that God is with you.  The Scripture teaches us that “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” — Hebrews 13:5 (NLT).  This promise was an anchor verse to me after I lost Tiffanie.  Her and I used to teach this verse together when we directed children's ministry.  We wanted to let children know that no matter what life threw at them, that God would never leave them.  That was easy to teach, but boy was that hard to practice.  This verse was a medicine to my soul, reminding me that even when I felt alone, abandoned, or overlooked, God is not gone.  He sat with me in the lonely silence, He stayed with me in the tears, and held me in the darkness.  My feelings may have fluctuated, but His presence does not.

      My second promsie that God provides when life offers you shifting sand is that He will give you strength.  Paul wrote “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness ( 2 Corinthians 12:9)."  The person grieving is probably at their weakest.  They are suffering spritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally.  They are literally drowning.  They need a strength that is beyond human reasoning.  They need a divine strength.  They need a special grace.  I personally believe, through my own experience, is that God provides the Christian who is suffering with a special grace custom fit for that season.  

      But it's important to remember that you don’t have to be strong every day or for that matter fake being strong.  It's ok to break down and cry.  Tears do not negate strength. You don’t have to “push through” Christmas.  You don’t have to pretend.  God gives strength one moment at a time—enough for this breath, this step, this day.  Read that again.  What in that sentence speaks to you?  I don't need tomorrow's strength today, I need today's strength today.  The old hymn says strength for today, bright hope for tomorrow!

      A third promise that impacted me deeply was that God will heal your heart.  The Psalmist boldly declares “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds (Psalm 147:3)."  Healing.  I needed that word.  I didn't always believe that word.  Yes, theologically I knew it was true, but my grief felt almost like a wound that would be fatal.  How could God heal that large of a pain?  The Psalm says that God heals and binds.  Those two terms show God's gentle hands being laid upon our life.  He is the great physician healing us, sewing up a wound.  The image of the text could also be a person knitting.  God takes the broken heart and knits it back together.  But friends, healing doesn’t mean forgetting.  Forgetting is the opposite of healing.  Healing doesn’t mean the pain fully disappears or that scars won't exist.  Healing also might not be perfectly finished on this side of heaven, but the progression toward it does indeed start on earth.  Healing means God tends to the shattered places gently, faithfully, and patiently.  You won’t always feel the way you feel right now.  That statement might be hard for you to read right. I know at one time I would have flippantly cast it off.  My own bitterness blinded me from seeing that bright days would come again, but beloved cling to the beauty of this precious promise, for indeed God does heal and restore. 

      A fourth promise is that God still has a purpose for you.  Paul wrote “For we are God’s masterpiece… created anew… so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago ( Ephesians 2:10)."  Loss has a way to making us question our purpose or to make us question who we are in Christ?  Loss may have rewritten your story, but it didn’t erase God’s purpose for your life.  If you are still breathing, God has meaning for your days—even the ones that feel heavy.  Your story is not over.  He is the author and the finisher of our faith, and beloved He still has other chapters to write in your life.

      Our final promise is that God promises eternal hope.  Peter tells us that “…we have a priceless inheritance (1st Peter 1:4)."  One of the constant comforts when Tiff passed away was the beautiful truth that Christ is the resurrection and the life, that death and the grave have been vanquished through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.  Death is not the end.  Love doesn’t end at the grave.  Your loved one’s story continues.  And one day—one glorious day—you will be whole again when you go home to heaven too.  Heaven is not wishful thinking.  It is a promise sealed by Christ Himself.  It is a promise that each person who has placed faith in Christ currently enjoys.  A place of rest for all of us who are part of God's family.

      The five golden rings remind us of that God’s promises never break—not in this life and not in the next.  Even when you feel like your life has been torn in two, His covenant circles around you, steady and unshakeable.  Hold onto His promises like rings on your fingers—visible, tangible symbols that you are still held by Someone who keeps His word.

Reflection Questions

1. Which of God’s promises feels hardest for you to believe right now?
2. Which promise gives you the most comfort?
3. What is one broken place in your life where you need to see God’s faithfulness?

Prayer

Lord, thank You that Your promises remain even when my heart feels fragile and broken seemingly beyond repair. Help me cling to the truth that You are with me, strengthening me, healing me, guiding me, and preparing a future full of hope. Wrap Your unbroken promises around my life like golden rings, reminding me that nothing—nothing—can separate me from Your love. Amen.