God is Faithful

Photo courtesy of Adam Jeske

 

During my youthful summers at Sky Ranch Camp, I had great fun riding horses, canoeing, and swimming. At Sky Ranch, I was challenged to know God and to give my life to him. We studied God’s Word and sang hymns and choruses that were packed with Scriptural truths.

One of my favorite hymns, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, is based on Lamentations 3:22-23:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. ²³ They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

During those fun-packed summers at Sky Ranch, I had no clue that God was building my faith in him and preparing me for life’s challenges that lay ahead. When life got tough, God used the words of that great hymn to assure me that he was always with me and would never cease to show me his love, power, grace, and mercy.

A.W. Tozer says faithfulness in God guarantees that "He will never be or act inconsistent with Himself… God will never cease to be what He is and who He is.” God does not change. He is perfect. He is loving. He is just. He is not influenced by anyone or anything, and his faithfulness ensures that he will always be true to his nature.

Faithlessness in our world is a great cause of personal pain, but God will never be faithless! He will never break his promises or defy his own character. According to Tozer, we can look at the promises in God’s Word to “see” his faithfulness.

For example, God’s promise to sustain the earth after the flood is first recorded in Genesis 8:21-22:

²¹The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. ²²“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Tozer writes that not only will God sustain the world that he has created until his purposes are fulfilled, but he is specifically faithful to sinners, to those who are tempted, and to those who struggle. Because God is just, he will be faithful to “banish from his presence all who love sin and reject his Son.” Those are scary words, but God is also faithful to sinners who return to him, as declared in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” If we confess our sins, God’s justice is for us!

Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” God will not allow us to be tempted to stray from our journey of living a Christ-like life beyond what we can handle. God allows us to be tempted, but he is faithful to help us through the challenges of life if we look to him.

And when we struggle to believe in his goodness, when we are fearful that he has abandoned us, God is still with us. We are assured in Scripture that God will complete his work in us and through us according to his plan, his time, and his power. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 tells us, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

Have you ever doubted God’s love for you, his presence with you, or his ability to forgive you? Take a moment to read Tozer’s prayer and let God assure you of his faithfulness.

Father, help us to believe. Forgive us for doubting. Take away our unbelief, our diffidence, our slowness to believe. Help us now to put our trust in Thee and throw ourselves upon Thee with all the trust of a child in the hands of his father. May we now trust Thee. We pray now for the discouraged, for the sinner, for the Christian who has failed Thee, for those who are on the borderline of despair and who are living under circumstances that are very hard to bear. Thou, O God, are faithful and will not allow us to fail. Thou wilt keep us and hold us up and bless us. Now greatly lift us and help us, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

–by Jane Hall, NCF National Director All quotes from: A.W. Tozer, The Attributes of God, Volume 2 This is the nineteenth post in a series by NCF Director Jane Hall on God’s attributes. She is inspired by the writings of A.W. Tozer in The Attributes of God, Volume 2