I don't always accomplish what I set out to do. I go to work every day, yes. I take care of my family, too. But I also promise myself I'll exercise, and often I don't. I promise myself I'll save money for retirement, or at least for a rainy day, and it slips away.

I promise myself that I will do more to serve the needy in my community, and to support our parish community. But then I get busy with other obligations that seem more important, and my good intentions are buried in a mountain of busyness.

God, fortunately, is not like me. Whatever God sets out to do is accomplished. It's a good thing, too. If God were like me, I'd have to just hope that God would remember to make good on a promise, to follow through with commitments, and to be there for me in times of trouble.

In today's first reading, the prophet Isaiah writes that God's word is as reliable as the rain and the snow. Just as the earth cannot help but absorb precipitation, so will God's word always accomplish its purpose. "My word," God says through Isaiah, "shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it."

This is good news for those of us relying on God's promises for our spiritual lives. God promises to love us, to forgive us, and to lead us to "green pastures" of fulfillment and peace. Unfortunately, we're never promised that it will be easy. That God's word will always accomplish its purpose can give us hope during those difficult times, when life is not easy, that God's promise will indeed come true.

If God's word will always come true, then it means that we can't screw it up. This is also good news for those of us who carry with us an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. We are not powerful enough to deter God. Our sins and failures, however small or large, are not bigger than God's love and forgiveness, nor are they greater than God's power to overcome their impact.

It can also give us some relief that we are not responsible for God's promises. It is not up to us to save the world, to meet every need we encounter, or to make sure that every wrong is addressed. These are promises God has made, and that God will keep. We are responsible to be faithful in our own journeys, and to discern God's will in our lives, families, and communities. God's word will achieve its purpose.

This doesn't mean, I don't think, that we are to be content to be unfaithful to our own words and intentions. Rather, it means that we can be free from the busyness that keeps us from what really matters - God's will being done. Knowing that God's word is more reliable than any promise made by anyone else makes me more eager to align myself with God's plans.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa. He may be reached at bptidings@yahoo.com.