Our God Is Faithful, So Trust Him!
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23 RSV)
DEFINITIONS
The dictionary defines "faithful" as "true or trustworthy in the performance of duty, the fulfillment of promises or obligations, etc; constant", and as "worthy of belief or confidence".
GOD DOES NOT CHANGE
"I the Lord do not change." (Malachi 3:6).
Moses prayed, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God" (Psalm 90:1-2). He is God "from everlasting to everlasting" (Nehemiah 9:5; see also Psalms 41:13, 106:48, 144:13; Isaiah 40:28; Jeremiah 10:10; Daniel 4:3, 6:26). He sits "enthroned forever" (Psalm 102:12). "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures through all generations" (Psalm 145:13; see Lamentations 5:19). (Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptures are from the New International Version and any emphasis has been added.)
God is "I am" (Exodus 3:14). He always is. He is before the physical universe was created, he is now, and he is after heaven and earth will have passed away (see Matthew 24:35). He "inhabits eternity" (Isaiah 57:15 NKJV). "I am the Alpha and the Omega... who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). He is the "everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6).
God's character does not change. "I the Lord do not change" (Malachi 3:6). With him "there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17 KJV). Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
God's truth does not change. "The word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8). Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matthew 24:35).
God's purposes do not change. "The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations" (Psalm 33:11). God "wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised" (Hebrews 6:17).
The Psalmist wrote, "In the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same and your years will never end" (Psalm 102:25-27).
I find this tremendously reassuring. In a world which is uncertain, and constantly changing, God does not change. He remains the same. In a quicksand, there is one solid rock on which we can stand and to which we can hold. That rock will always be there and it will always be solid. Scripture often speaks of God as a rock. He is "the Rock eternal" in whom we can trust (Isaiah 26:4). "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer; my God is my rock in whom I take refuge" (Psalm 18:2;
Because God is eternal and does not change, we can build our lives on him and have a sure foundation. The circumstances of our life, human institutions and philosophies, and even the physical universe, are impermanent. If we base our life on them we are not secure. Only God and his truth are eternal and sure. "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18; see also Colossians 3:1-2; Hebrews 12:2).
"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27; see Genesis 18:14). Job said, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37)). "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26; see Mark 9:23). God declares "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand" (Isaiah 14:24;
I believe one of the meanings of God's name, "I Am" is that he is always there, and he always has what we need. Indeed, one of the names for God is Jehovah-Shammah, the God who is there (Ezekiel 48:35).
God is there even in our most difficult times. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4). "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you" (Isaiah 43:2). God is our ever-present help in trouble. When we are in trouble, he is there to help us. A beautiful example of this is found in Daniel chapter 3. The three Hebrew youths were thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. The King looked into the flames and said , "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Daniel 3:25 KVJ). God did not keep them from the fire, but his Son was with them and protected them from harm. The Book of Lamentations was written at one of the lowest points in the history of the people of
GOD'S LOVE DOES NOT CHANGE
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100:5).
"God is love" (1 John 4:16). He is "abounding in love and faithfulness" (Psalm 86:15). On Mt. Sinai he passed in front of Moses and declared that he is "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" (Exodus 34:6).
God's love is universal. He is "loving toward all he has made" (Psalm 145:13). "He so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" that we could be saved and have eternal life (John 3:16). He does not want "anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). His promise to Abraham was that "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3).
God shows his love especially to those who are his people. He chose the nation of
Scripture says over and over that God's love for his people never fails, his love is unfailing. It is very difficult for us to "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love oChrist, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19)
GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES
"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19).
God is a God of covenant. Although he is sovereign and all-powerful, he commits himself to his people in an "everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:7, 19;
God is truth (John 14:6, 17:17; Romans 1:25). Truth is part of his essential nature. He does not lie, or deceive, or play tricks on us. God does not lie.
God has given us "everything we need for life and godliness". By his "very great and precious promises" he has made it possible for us to "participate in the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:3-4).
I can best summarize all that I have been trying to say, and bring this to a close, with the marvelous words of Paul,
"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:31-39).
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