Faithful

If you want to know someone, what better way than to go to the source? Allow that person to describe themselves to you. That’s why I find verses in the Bible where God describes Himself especially helpful. Take, for example, these verses:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness . . .

Exodus 34:6

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 

Deuteronomy 7:9

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. 

Deuteronomy 32:4

Our God is faithful. He is steadfast in His affection for us, firm in His commitment to keep His promises. When all others fail, we can rely on Him.

Faithful happens to be the word I chose to by my focus for 2022. As I’ve mentioned on the blog before, I like to choose a word for each year that will guide my thoughts and purpose. I chose faithful this year for two reasons. First, it reminds me that no matter what the year brings, no disaster will be too big for Him to handle. Conversely, no triumph will not have his fingerprints written all over it. I can face the future with confidence remembering my God is faithful.

Secondly, faithful reminds me that God delights in faithful servants. During the Christmas season, I couldn’t help but think of Mary who was so quick to respond to Gabriel’s message with, “Let it be as you say . . . I am God’s willing servant.” Am I always as willing to obey? Even when, especially when, obedience comes at a cost?

One of the themes of the book of Esther is that God is faithful to deliver His people. What I find most comforting about that is God’s faithfulness is not dependent on our faithfulness. When God made His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, He did not require Abraham to walk through the blood of the sacrificed animals as was common when a covenant was cut. Only God did that. The promise God implied by that was, “Even if you do not keep your part of the bargain, I will.” And He did, over and over, throughout the history of the Jewish nation.

We’ll see this again in the story of Esther. The protagonists of the story do not start out particularly faithful. They are hiding their Jewish identities behind Persian names, blending in comfortably to the Persian culture. But God shows up, regardless.

What a comfort to know that the God of Esther is the same God we follow today. He is faithful. I look forward to diving into that theme of faithfulness with you in the weeks to come.