Lately, I have been doing a lot of reading in the book of Psalms, and the chapters are brimming with praises of God’s faithfulness, even in the midst of dark and challenging circumstances. I greatly admire the writers, because even if they are in the worst of pits, they are always able to switch to an eternal mindset and worship the Lord for always being faithful and staying with them. In Psalm 92, for example, the author writes this: “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.” (Psalm 92:1-2). I always find myself wishing that I could be truly faithful to God in following Him in the same way that He has always been faithful to me, even when I was still running away from him and retreating into the comfort of my own sin.
You see, just as God has displayed his faithfulness for us in our life, we are called to be faithful in our pursuit of a relationship with Jesus. This is sooooo much easier said than done, I know, but taking a step in faithfulness each day keeps you rooted in truth, and allows you to trust God with your circumstances, just like in the psalms.
What is faithfulness?
According to Google, faithfulness is a loyalty and an allegiance to someone or something beyond circumstances. This is great, but I want Scripture to be the basis of how we see faith, not a website.
While researching what the Bible says about faithfulness, I found that Hebrews has so much to say about faith in the history of the Word. The author of this book opens up chapter 11 by explaining the basis of faith: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:1-3). Think about it like this: near the beginning of Creation, before Jesus came and even before there were books of the Bible written, people had to solely rely on their faith to follow God and His commandments. Now, we are blessed in the time we are living to have the full Word of God that can lead us, but the people that first wrote these books did so simply through a faith in the Father. This is why faithfulness is so critical as a fruit of the Holy Spirit: our spiritual walk will go nowhere without the belief in God being so strong, and our trust in his power being so big, that you will follow Him anywhere.
God’s faithfulness
For me, God’s faithfulness has been a cornerstone of His character, and part of what made me fall in love with Him so much. When I finally took on my relationship with Christ to be my own, it was amazing that He had kept the promises He made to me in Scripture for all those years, even though I didn’t understand what these promises were yet. He had protected me, and showed me grace as I learned what it meant to follow after Jesus.
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. “(Deuteronomy 7:9)
This is such an absolute verse, which means it doesn’t waver. The author is certain that God will keep His promises, which is so comforting. Those of us who truly love him and obey what His Word tells us to do will be given the things promised to the children of God. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve run from God, or how many times you sinned, because the faithfulness of God means that He will wait for you. Always. This doesn’t give you a free pass to live your life how you want, but it means that it is never too late to seek out God. If you think that He won’t accept you after all this time, then His faithfulness will show you how wrong that thought is. “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
Faithful characters in the Bible
Continuing with the theme of Hebrews 11, I found so many places where people in Bible history had to display great acts of faithfulness. They had to trust that God knew what He was doing, and they had to follow through with what He told them to do, despite the risks and the possible results of their actions. I think it is a beautiful thing to see how other people had to rely on their faith, because without trust in God, we would never do what He wants us to do. The backwards kingdom that God has built means that a lot of things we have to do in obedience aren’t going to make sense, and they often sound crazy! This is what makes faith such an important practice.
Noah
I am sure you are all familiar with the story of Noah, but it is fascinating! In Genesis 6, God said that he “regretted that he had made man on the earth” (Genesis 6:6), and actually decided that He is going to essentially wipe out all life on earth! Then, Noah is hit with a huge two-part test of faith: he is told that all life is going to be wiped out (yikes!), and that if he wants to survive, he has to spend what would end up being decades building a gigantic boat where thousands of animals would reside, along with his family.
Okay, just take a minute to think about how absolutely bonkers this must have sounded to Noah. He had absolutely no proof that any of this was real, and it was going to take a lot of time and effort to build this ark that might never actually be useful for anything. Why did he do it, then?
“By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7).
The two words that stuck out to me concerning faith was “reverent fear”. In his past, Noah has seen God work in his life, and because He knows that God’s character is faithful and just, Noah knew that he could have faith in God’s plan for his future.
Abraham
My all-time favorite story of Abraham is found in Genesis 22, where Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac, to Him. Not only is this a huge thing to ask of someone, but Isaac’s birth in itself was a miracle. Even though Abraham and Sarah were very old, and way past the age of being able to have a child, God promised that they would have a child (Genesis 17:15-21). At the age of ninety (yes, ninety!) Sarah had given birth to Isaac, which was a miracle straight from God. Abraham and Sarah had waited decades to have this child, and once this promise was finally fulfilled, God asked Abraham to give up his only child, whom he loved dearly, as a sacrifice.
This must have been one of the hardest things that Abraham ever had to do. God knew how big of a deal this was to Abraham, but this was a test of faith. And indeed, in Hebrews, it says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named’. (Hebrews 11:17-18). Abraham sacrificed the one thing that mattered the most to him, because he had faith that whatever God wanted him to do, was what would help establish His kingdom and glorify God. Because of his faith, Abraham was rewarded with a goat that would be an acceptable sacrifice, and Isaac was saved. Even though Abraham didn’t know Isaac would be spared, he had faith that God’s plan was bigger than what he wanted.
Moses
Moses’ story is full of times where he had to trust God, even when it seemed like His plan was absolutely crazy. The book of Exodus is filled with times where Moses led God’s people through a lot of trials and scary circumstances, such as being slaves in Egypt and then walking through an entire sea to escape the slavery. This wasn’t always the case for Moses, though. He was raised in the Pharaoh’s household, where he was probably pampered beyond any of our wildest dreams. Moses gave it all away, though, because he knew that God was calling him elsewhere.
“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:23-26).
How amazing of a sacrifice is that? Moses gave up all that he ever knew to suffer for the sake of God.
If you want to grow in faith, you have to be ready to make sacrifices. A lot of them. When you ask God to have control over your life, this means change. And when there is change, sacrifice is often required to make this change.
This sacrifice will look very different for each person and depending on the circumstance. Maybe you wake up an hour earlier every day to spend some time alone with God. You might be called to find new friends and leave the ones you have, because they aren’t pulling you closer to God. He might even tell you to move across the country to start in a new place where you can evangelize to a whole new community. Whatever it is, it won’t be easy. That’s the whole point of sacrifice! This is what Hebrews has to say about sacrifice for faith:
“And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets- who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated- of whom the world was not worthy-wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:32-40).
Talk about sacrifice! So many people have, and still, putting their life on the line for the sole purpose of growing the kingdom of God. It takes a lot of faith to do something like this, and it can only be because you are certain that the Lord’s plan is greater than your own.
If you want to have this kind of faith, be prepared to sacrifice anything. Whatever doesn’t fit in God’s plan has got to go, and it is vital to have a faith that will allow you to place God above anything else without question.
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