He’s Always Been Faithful

Do you ever have a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year?  We all have times in our lives when things are not going exactly as we imagined they would go.  We experience hardships and suffering in our lives.  During times like these we need to reflect on how faithful God has been to us in the past.  You see, our Christian faith is easy to live out when everything is going fine.  It can also be easy to live out when things are not easy IF you believe that God is faithful and He always keeps His promises.  God wants us to persevere as Christians.  He doesn’t want us just to praise Him when all is well; He wants us to praise Him when things are in an uproar (see James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1). There are three ways we can remember God’s faithfulness in the midst of trouble in our lives.

First of all, we look to God’s Word and to the lives of the people in the Bible. He gave us His Word so we could learn how to love Him, serve Him, and glorify Him, no matter what the circumstances.  He gave us glimpses into the lives of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Joshua, Paul, and so many others so that we could see things don’t always go the way we planned BUT He has a plan despite what goes on in our lives.  We experience hardships in our lives for many reasons some of these are consequences of our sinful nature, because we live in a fallen world, or sometimes for no other reason than God allowed it and it is His plan (see the book of Job).  God shows us in the lives of Hannah, Abraham and Sarah, Elizabeth, Moses, Mary, and so many others that “nothing is impossible with God” (see Genesis 18:14 and Luke 1:37).

Second, not only did God give us examples in ordinary people’s lives, He also gave us words of wisdom and comfort, some spoken through prophets and teachers and some from the teachings of Jesus.  In Matthew 6, a portion from “The Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus tells us we should seek His kingdom first and “all these things will be added” to us.  These other things are food, clothes, shelter, etc.  He comforts us in Philippians 4 by reminding us to always rejoice in the Lord, not to worry about anything, and He promises His peace.  I could continue to give many examples of God giving us His word as a tool to help us in times of great need or in times of joy.  The Bible is useful to us in everyday life for ALL things. What a blessing that God has given it to us.  Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”

Third, on top of God giving us the Bible to remind us He is with us and He is faithful, we have our personal experiences.  I always make it a point to remember and remark to others the great things we have seen God do!  If we acknowledge His work in our lives, we will be able to lean on those things when we feel like He is far away or not remembering.  He IS here and He does remember you!  He is faithful.  Take the time to share with others things God has done in your life.  Encourage one another with stories of His grace and goodness.  Then cling to those stories when things feel out of control.  He has shown us in the past His faithfulness and He will again!

No matter what you are going through right now, good or bad, choose to “rejoice in the Lord always,” knowing that it is because of Him you are where you are right now!

-Christy Davis

Christy is a wife (minister’s wife), mother (home school mom and adoptive mom), and most importantly a follower of Christ.  She lives in Nashville with her husband, Daniel, and three kids, Hannah, Benjamin, and Malachi.  Christy loves to talk about and write about her experiences with adoption and things God teaches her daily about living a godly life as a wife and mother.  Daniel and Christy called 9th and O their church home for about 4 years (2002-2006), and we are so thankful for the ministry of that church.