But what about people's faithfulness? The great increase of marriage and family breakdowns has certainly placed a black mark on the word and virtue of faithfulness. Many people are disappointed, let down, and some even unwilling to trust others because of their lack of faithfulness. This has caused serious breakdowns in society, for trust is its very foundation. But when people cannot be trusted because they are not faithful, then everyone will suffer.
What I propose here is that if we understand God's faithfulness and experience it in our lives, we'll be able to treat others in that manner and hence be a part of those people who seek to reestablish trust with others through faithfulness and with it build a better society.
The Faithfulness of God
We shall look at three aspects here: first, that faithfulness is a divine attribute - God is faithful - and how this will reflect on us who experience it; second, we shall take a brief look at God's faithfulness to His people throughout the centuries and who people reflected on that; thirdly, perhaps most relevant to many, we shall elaborate on God's faithfulness in difficulties - where is God when the going gets tough?
(1) Faithfulness is a divine attribute (1 Corinthians 1:4-9; Revelation 19:11)
The apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Corinth that God has blessed them with many gifts and abilities; yet these are for the edification of the church, and they serve to prepare God's people for the Return of Jesus Christ to the earth when He will judge the living and the dead. In order for believers to be ready, Paul stresses a major divine attribute - faithfulness. Jesus will help believers to be established for the Day of Judgement, when all human beings must give an account on how they lived their lives; as believers we are called to be 'blameless,' that is pure, upright, and righteous (v 8). In order for that to take place, Paul states that 'God is faithful' (v 9), and because of His faithfulness we are called into the fellowship with His Son, Jesus. It is this very fellowship - and only this fellowship - that we will enable us to live a life of purity and holiness and hence be blameless on Judgement Day.
Jesus Himself is called 'Faithful and True' (Revelation 19:11); John elsewhere quoted Jesus' words that He is the truth (John 14:6) - He is truthful and hence faithful. In fellowship with a faithful person - especially when that Person is faithfulness in perfection - it will affect our own capacity for faithfulness, and 'rub off' on us to be faithful towards others.
(2) God's faithfulness towards His people (Deuteronomy 7:6-15; Isaiah 49:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Philippians 1:6; 1 John 1:9)
Moses explained to Israel that God loves them and therefore chose them. God delivered them from slavery, and this He did because He is faithful - or, in Moses words, 'the faithful God' (Deuteronomy 7:9). A similar thought is found in Isaiah 49:7 - The Lord is faithful and therefore will help the despised ones.
Similar to the above comments on 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks about God's faithfulness to the church at Thessalonica (5:23-24). The emphasis again is for God's people to be blameless on Judgement Day, and that will be possible through God's faithfulness; He will faithfully take care of those who want to live holy and became blameless - He will work in us to accomplish this end. Note that it is the God of peace who do His good work in us! The same thought is found in Philippians 1:6, where Paul proclaims that He who started a good work in believers will finish it; the faithfulness of God is implied, of course.
John, in his first letter, speaks of God's faithfulness in relation to our sins - He is faithful and just to forgive those who confess their sins (1 John 1:9). No matter what we might have done, Jesus' sacrifice is able to atone for our sins and failures towards God. He doesn't want to judge and condemn people; no, He wants to forgive and heal them! God is like the good Dad who, when the son burned down the neighbour's storehouse, he took responsibility for it and restored everything. You might be in a position where you feel that you've let God down; but I have good news for you - He will forgive you through Jesus whenever you come to Him and confess and repent. You don't have to feel guilty for the rest of your life - God forgives and forgets, and will, in future, help you not to sin... at least, willfully.
(3) God is faithful in difficulties (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 4:19; Psalm 62:8)
This is a crucial issue for many people - where is God when things go bad? Well, firstly we must make clear that people who don't care about God but then turn on Him when things go bad, have really not understood much. Why would your neighbour suddenly help you if you have been treating him badly and cheated on him? Well, the good news is, God is willing to forget all that when people turn to Him with a sincere heart. The Bible talks of God's protection for those who love and follow Him, although He does, of course, in some way care for all of humanity. Yet because He doesn't force Himself on anyone and most people choose to reject God, people are left to fight through life by themselves, and that human power is often far too weak to withstand the troubles of life. But whenever people turn to God and ask for His protection, He will surly help!
Having said that, there are times when even for believers God's protection seems weak. But there are clear biblical answers for that: tough times will produce tough people. By that I don't mean hardened, but mature: people who can face troubles in a good and positive way, and then be abl to help others. No one will listen to your advice until they know you know what you're talking about. Someone said, 'People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care!' Paul gives us some clarifty on the issue:
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.There are troubles ahead; let's face it, things go wrong at times, even for the innocent (or sometimes especially for the innocent...). Tell Jesus about it - He suffered a criminal's death although He didn't do anything wrong! Peter talks about this (1 Peter 4:12-19), and concludes that God is a faithful Creator and will see us through it! It is because of God's faithfulness that we'll come out on the other side and be better and more mature people if we handle tough times in a right way. Some start to blame God and accuse Him of all kinds of nonsense, but those who understand that we live in a sinful world, know that 'bad things happen to good people'; but they also know that God has a way out for us to escape troubles!
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NASB)
Finally, the Psalmist gives us some great advice as to how to handle such times:
Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8 (NASB)We must trust God at all times - good times or bad times. This gives us a stable foundation in life. We might not always understand all the things that are going on around us - or in us, at times - but we can trust God to be in charge still! At the same time, faith is not mechanical but relational: the psalmist wants us to pour out our hearts before God. It's so important that we pray and share what's going on inside of us, for keeping it all in our hearts can have bad effects. We need to share our troubles with God - pouring out our hearts, at times with tears, will greatly help us deal with tough situations. But we can't just melt down in tears, we need to trust God in all circumstances, at all times, as the Psalm instructs us. With a good balance between the two we'll be fine!
If you learn to take hard times with maturity, you'll be fine and grow in your character! Remember this: 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going.' Keep the words of the Bible close to your heart - it is the God of peace who will see you through, the faithful God!
Shalom,
Gordon
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