God’s faithfulness is a part of who He is. It is not dependent on our faithfulness or on our works to earn His faithfulness towards us. It is not taken away from us when we fail to follow Him or obey His Word. It is always present, and He says He will never leave us nor forsake us. In the 3 scriptures below, we see God’s amazing character and faithfulness towards us.
Let’s look at these 3 scriptures:
Numbers 23:19 (NIV):
God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
Isaiah 54:10 (NIV):
….. “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed”, says the Lord, who has compassion for you.
Isaiah 49:15-16 (NIV):
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast & have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will never forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
As children of God, we need a revelation of this truth in our lives. We need to understand the character of our heavenly Father and how He loves us so deeply. Being able to trust His character is the first beginning step to a true rich life in Jesus. If we don’t believe and doubt His character of who He is, then we are unable to fully trust Him to lead us and guide us in life. This is not the way a child of God is designed to live the best life possible. We as His children are meant to live life in the knowledge of God’s faithfulness towards us. We are meant to live a rich life walking together with God in each step of the way, fully trusting Him. In the bible, God shows us in His Word how man failed many times. We can look at one example, of the Israelites and see how many times they acted in unbelief, even though they saw great miracles in Egypt and saw how God delivered them. God created a way of escape for them by parting the red sea and providing for them by sending food from heaven for them to eat each day, along with water for them poured out to drink from a rock. Their needs were always provided for and God did so many miracles for them but yet, their hearts were hard and unbelieving. They chose to complain when struggles came and their hearts were far away from God. Even after all of the things the Israelites had done, and wandering away from God, He declared in Exodus 33:14 (NIV) – “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest”
After reading this, we see that God’s presence is powerful and strong. It is never dependent on how good we are, but on how He is simply faithful, even in our hardest struggles. Only in Him can we find true rest and peace. When we look at the lives of the Israelites in the bible, we see that they wandered in the desert for 40 years. That is a very long time and it was not easy for the Israelites. God worked not on their time table but around His timing. But no matter how long it took for them to get to the promised land, we see the faithfulness of God in their story by reading that He saw them through until the very end. He never abandoned His own people.
With this in mind, I want to bring up the topic of going through life with God. Sometimes, we will face battles and problems that will be tough to go through. We may feel forgotten and all alone. Maybe you are reading this right now and may be going through a tough time and you feel like you are forgotten or all alone. In these times when we feel God is far away from us and we feel discouraged, it is important to remind ourselves that deep down we know that God is with us. He promised he won’t leave you. His voice is telling you today deep within you “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest….”
Whatever you are facing today, be sure deep within that God is with you by your side, providing for you always and that He has a good plan for your life. He will never forget you and has engraved you in the palms of His hands (See scripture above Isaiah 49:16). Nothing is too difficult for Him. Trust in your Father who is with you today. He promises to never let you go.