Celebrating God’s Faithfulness

From Radio Shine’s Praise and Share Edition

Steve White - Host

A wise man once said that the proof of the durability of Christianity is not how steep the race is, but how long. I have found that to be true. It is not how persuasively we win the argument about the nature of truth, but what works when we put it into practice, what endures because it is based on revelation and what is fluff. In my estimation, the most remarkable, most powerful, but most simple, truth is that God is real and that he is faithful to His children. That is why Christianity works. Christians should be the most positive people in the world. Celebration of His reality and faithfulness has the latent capacity to act as a gigantic magnet to draw others to him. It is time to respond to skepticism and pervasive negativity by celebrating God’s faithfulness, deliberately, consciously, joyfully and very publicly.

When you are a child, the future is all potential. When the hair turns grey and the decade milestones come and go there are moments to reflect on what actually took place. As I look back, I know God has always been there. He has provided everything I have needed (not necessarily all that I wanted or demanded). I have sensed His presence with me, even in times of loneliness and the loss of loved ones (Christians face grief and loss like everyone else, but we know God is with us at those times). The Bible tells us there is a time and a season for everything. The strongest Christian will face life and death, health and sickness, abundance and lack, some experiences that build up and others that seem to demolish possessions and plans. Things will not always go well. Job observed that God sometimes allows seemingly bad things to happen (Job 2:10). There is no sense living in denial. Christians are not immune from the highs and lows of relationships and personal feelings about circumstances. It is in looking back that we can evaluate the totality of what has gone before and see the hand of God upholding and His Spirit sustaining us (Psalm 139). As Jesus reminded us, God is a God of the living, of the “now”.

God is able to do more than we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). He says, “If you call on me I will answer you.” (Jeremiah 33:3; Psalm 50:15). Friends care, but they are limited. There are many things they simply cannot do to help, even if they are available and disposed to do so. On the other hand, God will not allow us to be removed (Psalm 55:22). Nothing can take us out of His hand (John 10:28-29). He has promised us “rest” (Matthew 11:28). We can trust him with our all, as a lifestyle choice. We know that he makes everything that happens in our circumstances work for good (Romans 8:28) and he is able to keep us from falling (1 Corinthians 1:8, 9; Jude 24).

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Problems are a part of life, but God does not abandon us because we get into fixes. He does not destroy his servants. Even when we feel he is squeezing us, to produce change, we can still affirm that we trust Him with our lives. When faced with unusual or trying circumstances, Biblical faith says, “This has a purpose” (Job 23:10). Too many people opt for a form of Christian fatalism, directly or indirectly blaming God for allowing events to occur. It is easy to be cemented to our setbacks, but this is not God’s way. The Bible repeatedly calls him the “God of hope”. He is faithful when Christians suffer persecution, when a friend dies at the hands of an assailant, when abuse occurs, when financial problems appear overwhelming, when a sickness is not healed, when a friend is killed in a car accident, when Christians perish in a tsunami? It is assuring to know He has a purpose. Life is not a tiny blip of nothingness in the cosmos. Life IS God. His purpose is always to build something that will last for eternity.

Are we really convinced that God cares, that he is able and trustworthy? Do we live as though that confidence is real? Is it right or wrong to query God’s faithfulness? There is no sense pretending. He can always remove a trial, if he desires, but sometimes he chooses not to do so. Paul asked three times for a particular trial to be lifted, but was told God’s grace was enough. Only our heavenly father knows what is really in our hearts when we react against what is going on in our lives. I believe we can ask for an explanation about what is happening without judging God (Romans 9:19-21). When we regularly and actively celebrate God’s faithfulness as part of our lives, we won’t be so quick to jump to conclusions and think God has let us down when things do not work out the way we want. God is faithful.

There are many ways in which Christians experience God’s faithfulness. These include his presence in times of suffering; His strength in times of temptation; His faithfulness in showing us how to live wisely in all our human relationships, through His Word and His people; His faithfulness in avenging those who suffer for him. The bottom line is that we can trust him with our lives and know He has our good at heart (this is what Satan failed to realize when he mistakenly thought Job’s reaction to suffering would be to curse God to His face, cf Job 1:11; 2:5). The fact is, he has a purpose (cf Job 23:10). It is not enough to say, “God knows” when circumstances are beyond our control. That can imply that He is aware but indifferent. Some things happen by divine permission and we never work them out objectively. However, there is always a bottom line. David said that he had never seen the righteous going without. In times of trouble (and he had lots of those), he kept reminding himself that God was his refuge and help (Ps 46:1, 2). That can be our experience as well.

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God shows his faithfulness by putting us in relationships, such as families; or providing experienced Christians as leaders and mentors to care for us spiritually. (Hebrews 13:17). Whatever happens, He is described as a father looking after his family, caring for the vulnerable, a pastor overseeing his sheep (Psalm 23). Even the deaths of his people are “precious” in his sight “

Psalm 116:15). (Ps.41:3, Isa.63:9, John 11:3, 2Cor. 12:9, Phil.4:13, 2Cor.4:16,

Acts 17:28, Isa.40:29-31, Deut.33:27)

He is faithful, even in death!

DEATH~
WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT .

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, 'Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.' Very quietly, the doctor said, 'I don't know..' 'You don't know? You're, a Christian man, and don't know what's on the other side?' The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said, did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, And when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing... I know my Master is there and that is enough.' May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. I believe that friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

May His peace be within you today because…..HE IS FAITHFUL!

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