Embrace God’s Faithfulness

This is last in a 4-part series on embracing God’s attributes. Here you can read part 1, part 2 and part 3 here.

Everything that God has promised will come to pass. His faithfulness guarantees this fact. He does not lie. What He has said in the Bible about Himself is true. He will honor His promise that our sins will be forgiven and that we will live forever with Him. He will never leave us, no matter what.

We are told in Deuteronomy 7:9,  ”Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” He said this to the Israelites, but WE are a part of those “thousand generations.” 

And Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” It’s who He is…faithful, no matter how we respond to His faithfulness.

But at times we may not feel like His plan is best! We don’t see how the current situation is showing His faithfulness.

We must learn to stand on truth no matter how we feel or how the situation looks! I wrote on the issue of God’s answers not coming in our way, or in our timing, in this post.  Sometimes when God doesn’t answer quickly we begin to doubt Him. That still doesn’t change the fact the He is faithful.

So we must be faithful to surrender to His faithfulness. Let go of doubt in white flag surrender. I wonder if we hold on because we think we can do a better job than the “King of the World” can! Really? Is that what I’m indicating by holding on to what is rightfully His?  THE FAITHFUL GOD OF THE UNIVERSE?

Jesus says to His disciples in Luke 14:26-27: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” 

Hate, here, means loving anyone more than Jesus. Carrying His cross means laying our life down to live for Him. I learned early on that I had to love Jesus more than even my husband Pat!

It’s time to  get off the fence of faith (see post I wrote on this here.) Choose to do battle with the enemy as you walk in faith in spite of circumstances. (Read Doing Battle for more on this.) Then, hope anyway!  Read my three part series on this topic of difficulty and hope: part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here. Finally, remember all He has done. Read that post here: I Remember.

7 Take Aways:

1. Trust Him. 
2. Remember the times in the past as He has led you and done a much better job than you could’ve done your way.  
3. Allow Him to carry you and work through you as you obey Him.
4. Thank Him for providing all that is needed to accomplish His purpose and His glory.
5. Believe He is always and forever faithful. 
6. Live faithfully trusting Him.
7. Share His faithfulness through you own stories so others will know Him.

St. Francis de Sales said about faith: :”Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.”

I want to close with a message from my faithful friend Karen, the woman I mentioned above with cancer for about 15 years. She passed away just a few weeks ago but her legacy lives on. A year ago she wrote this to me: 

What a roller coaster ride my family is on!  God is at work and teaching us much.I just returned from my doctor here in Tennessee and he had received some results from my trip to Houston.So, the biopsy is NEGATIVE!  The implants that indicated I was in the end stage of ovarian cancer came back with no cancer.  He wants to talk to my doc in Houston, but it looks like the chemo is working and I may resume next week. Sweet friends, I am giving you information before I have the whole story, but I just had to – I want you to take time to thank our God for answering your prayers for me.I am learning so much and falling deeper in love with Him each day.  Whatever happens, this journey has been another “it’s worth it journey”!I love you guys and thank you for holding me up to our Father.  I continue to pray for you -Psalm 138“I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing your praise before the heavenly beings.  I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your constant love and truth.”

Her earthly assignment is over, but she was never closer to the Lord than she was right before she went to be with Him forever…she never loved Him more, never trusted Him more. She died as she lived…trusting His faithfulness, living faithfully because of it, and bringing Him glory through it.

Her final text to me, after her last grand baby was born and she was able to pray over him, immediately went on oxygen full time, and died 4 days later: “He draws me. I love Him. “

That’s how I want to live and die as well. Faithfully trusting Christ, who is forever faithful.

Banner photo by Tony Eight Media on Unsplash