I have an answer that is firmly grounded in the Scriptures: “You can count on God’s unfailing faithfulness.” Here are three ways God is faithful, no matter what the circumstances are that are swirling around you:
God is faithful to His covenants. Would you like a beautiful picture of God’s faithfulness? Just look outside your window. Even with the mess man has made of God’s world, He faithfully rotates the seasons—right on time. I’ve been refreshed by watching God’s handiwork. Winter is past; spring is here. When one season surrenders to the next I remember God’s covenant promise to Noah, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22, NKJV).
In the midst of dizzying changes, some things will always remain the same. They are joined by our faithful God to form a rhythm of life: cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night—and seedtime and harvest. God has promised that, even in convulsive times, if we sow seeds He will produce a harvest. Don’t let go of God’s promises to you. God keeps His promises. He is ever faithful to His covenants.
God is faithful in His compassion. We’re walking through some serious times right now, but the prophet Jeremiah’s times were far more difficult. The nation that had been called to bring God’s light to all the nations—Judah—lay in ruins. Sin’s consequences had caught up with a sinful people. Destruction was everywhere.
Yet even in the midst of God’s judgment His steadfast love remained intact. Jeremiah saw beyond the despair and destruction; he knew God had not abandoned His people. Standing in the ruins of a once-mighty city he declared: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).
Like Jeremiah, you may be standing in a pile of hopes that are now just smoldering ashes. In the midst of your heartbreak, God loves you. Jesus and His cross are the proof of God’s love for you. He is ever faithful in His compassion.
God is faithful to His character. God had made an eternal promise to David: One day the Messiah Himself would sit on his throne. In this sense, David’s throne would be forever secured.
But God also warned David’s heirs that He would discipline them if they turned away from Him. Yet even in the discipline He would not defy His character. “If [David’s] sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, if they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression. … Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips” (Ps. 89:30-34).
Let me put it plainly: God is judging sins related to money. You cannot bow to the false gods of materialism and mammon without inviting God’s judgment. The global economic turmoil is, at least in part, the consequence of greed, corruption and money-driven exploitation. Our secular culture is being reminded in no uncertain terms that there are wages—stern wages—for sin.
Yet even as He judges, God remains faithful in His character. His lovingkindness is still extended to people everywhere. And God has gone on record that He will not allow His faithfulness to fail. “I will not take My love from him, nor will I ever betray My faithfulness” (v. 33, NIV).
In tough times you can experience God’s faithfulness firsthand if you will:
• Trust God’s promises and keep sowing seeds. God is ever faithful to His covenants.
• Look beyond the circumstances to the unfailing love of God. God is ever faithful in His compassion.
• Realize that, although God will judge sin, faithfulness and love are woven into His very nature. God is ever faithful to His character.
God will be unfailingly faithful to you. Even when banks fail, you can bank on the faithfulness of God.
About the author: David Shibley is the founder of Global Advance (globaladvance.org), a ministry dedicated to training and equipping pastors and leaders worldwide. He is also the author of numerous books, including Living as if Heaven Matters (Charisma House).
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