Great Is Thy Faithfulness

As the 8th gift of Christmas God has given us the gift of faithfulness! Faithfulness is defined as constant, steadfast, loyal, and dependable. And that is just what our God is!

I cannot tell you how excited I am to get to share with you about God’s faithfulness! I am a wanderer. I have strayed from God. I have broken and pushed his loving boundaries. I have harmed his name and hurt his church. You may ask, why I would share this with you openly. I am ok with sharing because in doing so, I join a host of amazing believers who have gone before me. They too were wanderers. They were too at times, faithless. I’m not afraid to share my errors because I am repentant and redeemed. I am not afraid to tell you that I’ve strayed because the joy I’ve received in being found in God’s faithfulness is blessed. No matter where I went, God was there. He met me head on, pursued me from afar, and wooed me into his loving arms. In his faithfulness, he never left my side. That’s how he’s been from the beginning of time! It’s his very nature to be faithful. In Joshua 1:5 God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” If He says it, He means it! And throughout scripture he proves himself to be true.

He created Adam and Eve. They wandered. He faithfully found them. (Genesis 3)

Abraham and Sarah wandered and took matters into their own hands rather than depend on God. He faithfully found and redeemed them. (Genesis 16-20)

Moses killed a man and ran away to hide. God faithfully found and greatly used him. (Exodus 2:11-3)

Time and again you can find accounts of how humans mess up, run, and are faithfully found by God. God has known our hearts from the beginning of time. He also had a plan to help us in our faithlessness. 

See, even “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. 

(2 Timothy 2:13)

At the proper time, God sent his most cherished gift to live among us. Jesus came as that beautiful, innocent babe. He came to redeem us in our wanderings. God was faithful to find us and bring us back to himself even though we were faithless. Sending Jesus was the ultimate statement of faithfulness. God will spare no expense to save his children. He will stop at nothing to find us and bring us back unto himself! 

For many of us that is hard to imagine. We’ve been abandoned by a parent or possibly by both of them. We’ve been betrayed by a spouse or had our children walk away from us.The very people we should have been able to count on have abandoned us or hurt us deeply. Our trust has been broken and learning to trust again is tough. But, God is faithful. HE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU...EVER!

Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. 

Psalm 27:10

Dear Lord, 

Help us to know your faithfulness. Where we have been hurt by others bring healing so that we can learn to trust in you. Forgive us for our faithlessness. We praise you for being steadfast and trustworthy. Teach us to depend on you every moment of every day. 

We love you 

Amen and Amen!

(First Published on December 20, 2013)