Trust In God’s Promises

By Lauren Madsen

My favorite time to walk up the main staircase in my local temple is during the morning hours when the sun shines through the glass prisms of the stained-glass windows. It is then that tiny rainbows appear all over the floor and walls, and I feel as though Heavenly Father is telling me: “While you are here in my house, remember the promises I have made.” 

I have spent my last several visits there doing just that—pondering the promises of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The promises that have come back to my mind were discovered over the course of my lifetime in the scriptures, through God’s servants, and through personal revelation to my own mind and heart.

A couple of phrases have been at the forefront of my thoughts through this process, the first being that the Lord said multiple times in the Doctrine and Covenants: “What I say unto one I say unto all.” The other phrase is found in D&C 1:38, which says, “whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” With faith in these two principles, I am able to trust that promises made to individuals in the scriptures are also made to me. I can also trust that the Lord makes promises through his called leaders in the church. What a blessing to ponder on promises that have been fulfilled and promises we can all lean on in these last days.

Promises Fulfilled

• We learn in 1 Nephi 10 that Lehi prophesied the coming of the Messiah: “a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.” Lehi also mentioned that other prophets had also prophesied the coming of the Messiah. When the resurrected Jesus appears to the Nephites he declares, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.” (3 Nephi 11:10). Prophets said He would come, and He did!

• In 2 Nephi 3 Lehi reminded his family about Joseph of Egypt and his prophecies of a “choice seer” from the fruit of His loins who would be given power to bring forth His word. Hundreds of years later Joseph Smith would begin his work in this last dispensation of translating The Book of Mormon and begin restoring Christ’s church to the earth. 

• The Lord promised Nephi that he would preserve those things that Nephi would write and (2 Nephi 25:21). Nephi’s words were indeed preserved and have come forth to be shared with the world. In 2023, the Church News reported that the church had distributed the 200 millionth copy of The Book of Mormon. 

• Brigham Young prophesied that there would be “hundreds of temples and thousands of men and women officiating therein.” At the time of his death in 1877 there were just three operating temples. It has been almost one hundred and fifty years since then, and there are now 382 temples across the world in various phases of construction or operation! 

Promises We Can Lean On

• The word of God brings peace. Boyd K. Packer taught: “Peace can be settled in the heart of each who turns to the scriptures and unlocks the promises of protection and redemption that are taught therein.”

• Suffering is temporary. What the Lord told Joseph Smith while he and others suffered in Liberty Jail became D&C 121:7-8: “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

• We are taught in the General Handbook that as we seek to keep our covenants, including the “sacred privilege to wear the garment as instructed in the initiatory ordinances, [we] will have greater access to the Savior’s mercy, protection, strength, and power” (26.3.3.2). 

• In John 14 we receive this promise from the Savior: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (vs. 18).

God has kept many promises up to this point in the history of His earth, and there is a promise we are still looking forward to being fulfilled—that of Christ returning to the earth to rule and reign. Angels told the apostles in Acts 1: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” President Nelson taught us in April 2025 general conference that “increased time in the temple will help us prepare for the Second Coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. We do not know the hour of His coming. But I do know that the Lord is prompting me to urge us to get ready for that ‘great and dreadful day’.” Preparing for the Savior’s Second Coming by remembering God’s promises, leaning on His promises, and keeping our own promises will keep us ready no matter when that glorious day comes.