Promises and Payoffs
By Anthony Casperson
4-29-23

A YouTuber commented on a famous author’s teaching about writing. Specifically, when it comes to the plot of the tale. The presentation revolved around what they called promises and payoffs.

While writing, the storyteller promises to their audience certain aspects of the story. This is everything from hinting at there being a spy in the midst of the protagonists, to nods toward a character’s personal development, to hidden details that indicate whether or not there’s going to be a happy ending to the story. The author does this so that the audience isn’t blindsided by something that makes no sense, or jarringly yanks them out of the narrative.

And it’s important for the author to keep the promises—to make sure that there is a payoff for each promise—or else the audience will feel dissatisfied by the whole experience. Sure, the author can go beyond the promised end. Maybe an occasional surprise that goes beyond the original promise can be good. But they must at least deliver on that specific promise lest the audience never believe any other thing that the author describes. And lose any interest in continuing with their other stories.

Nobody wants to continue on with someone who never satisfactorily pays off on the promises they make.

And this is true of areas outside of writing and reading stories. As a matter of fact, I believe that many people who walk away from the life of a Jesus follower are those who felt as though God did not deliver on a promise. That he failed to live up to what they believed he’d promised them.

However, the question I’d like to ask is, “Did he really make that promise to you? Or are you placing words in his mouth when he made a promise to specific individuals that didn’t include you?”

Perhaps an illustration would be handy. One of the favorite verses of those who experience difficult situations in life is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

We are taught to believe that God has promised us good things are just around the bend. That job you need, or person you’re waiting for, or happiness that everyone else seems to have will come. If you just wait long enough.

But then, days and weeks and months drag on. Maybe even years or decades, we wait. And wait. And wait. But nothing comes. We start to wonder and blame God for not delivering on that promise. The payoff we thought was guaranteed to come never does. We ask, “Where is the good you promised God? The future change I was told would come if I just waited? Is there something wrong with me that you can’t deliver? Or is it something wrong with you? Are you not actually loving? Are you not powerful enough for this? Do you even exist?”

Frustration rings in our heads because there was no satisfactory payoff for the promised words.

Yet, if we were to look at the context of the verse in Jeremiah 29, we would see that God’s promise is to the exiled people of Judah. Those who had been sent off to Babylon. And it’s not like we have to look all that far to see to whom God promised these words. The verse just before that oft-quoted one shows God talking about a time after the seventy years in Babylon are over. It was to be then that he would return them to the Promised Land.

And that promise is because (hence the word “for” that starts verse 11) God has a plan. He’s in control. Even though they don’t like the situation that they’re in, even though they felt like the world had ended, God was still in control. His plan was for the good of those who loved him. Those who followed his ways. We see that in verses 12-14, when God tells them that the reason why he’ll listen to their cries of distress is because they’ll repent and return to proper relationship with him. They’ll seek him with all of their heart and he will be found among them as he returns them to their proper state.

That promise is for the people of Judah who had been exiled to Babylon. Not 21st century Americans. We’re not guaranteed this plan of goodness in this world. Granted, there is a sense of future goodness in the fullness of the Kingdom of God, but the exact way that we tend to apply these words is a misapplication.

A misapplication that will only lead to frustration as people await the payoff of a promise falsely placed in the mouth of God.

That’s not to say that there’s nothing we can apply to our lives from a promise of God to someone else. First, we can see that our Lord is a God who longs for the good of those who love him. We even see that sentiment in Romans 8:28 when Paul writes that God works all things together for the good of those who love him.

The difference is that it’s not a promise of relief from all suffering, but rather a promise that whatever situation we’re going through—good or bad—he can use it to grow us to be more like him. When we focus on what God is doing with his plan, then we can exist in the less-than-preferred space because we know he’s still in control.

On top of that, we can also apply the words promised to another by remembering that God did give those exiles in Judah the promised payoff. He did exactly as he said. Seventy years later, the people of Judah returned to the Promised Land. His plan sent them back because the Second Person of the Trinity needed to take on human flesh in that land. God had to satisfy his need of justice through the cross on a hilltop among those people’s descendents.

God’s plan has always been much larger than a single individual, or small group of people. He wants to bring all people into right relationship with him, even though not all will accept that call.

That’s the kind of God we followers of Jesus serve. And that’s the true power of a payoff to God’s actual promise.

So, when it comes to the promises of God, make sure that you look at the context to see who it is that God makes the promise. Not every one is promised to you and me. But there is always something deeper we can learn about God and his relationship with us from it.