The Scriptures are filled with God’s promises. Sometimes they are specific to people, sometimes to all people, sometimes to nations or families, but throughout the Scripture He makes promises. In 2 Chronicles as Solomon is dedicating the temple we hear the resounding acknowledgement about God’s promise keeping nature.

……..who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised.…. 2 Chron 6:4

The LORD has kept the promise he made…. 2 Chron 6:10

……you who keep your covenant of love…. 2 Chron 6:14

You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today. 2 Chronicles 6:15

Of course Solomon himself was the realised promise of the Israelites. Dating all the way back to God’s covenant with Abram, God says this;

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Genesis 22:17

It was Solomon who saw that promise realised,

The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. 1 Kings 4:20

God fulfilled His promise.

How long did the promise take? The time between these two moments was pretty big. Give a take a year or two it took around 1100 years for the promise to be fulfilled or 16 generations if you’d prefer. Yes, God fulfilled His promises but He did it in His timeframe. That last sentence is a truth we might not be prepared to hear because we would prefer God to fulfil His promises in our timeframe. We are much more instant that 16 generations, we want it asap. Peter picks this up later in the NT

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)

Peter is talking specifically about the day of the Lord’s return but his focus on how God is patient with us interests me. We often want a promise to be fulfilled before we are ready to receive that promise. Can you imagine if we actually received everything we had either prayed for or felt that God had promised us? We would be overwhelmed and sick. God is a promise keeper but the promise is on His terms, not ours and that is a really good thing! Because He loves us, we can trust what He does is best.