Faithfulness
We live in a day and age where keeping your word is getting increasingly less common and consistency is difficult to find. People move every few years, switch jobs on a regular basis and give up on marriages too quickly. We are in awe of the worker who remained in the same job for forty years or the marriage that has last fifty. That type of faithfulness is pretty amazing.
What does it take to be faithful? We think of faithfulness as the ability to stick to something or someone for the long haul, a steadfast heart that does not turn away from the end goal. Faithfulness sounds a little boring sometimes, like the day in, day out of working the same job for year after year. But it also sounds safe and constant and predictable….which would be a wrong interpretation.
As it turns out, faithfulness is about enduring hardship, relying on the Lord and finding hope in dark times.
There have been a few times lately, when in the middle of conflict and overwhelming challenges, I wanted to find the escape hatch. I wanted out of an ugly situation and I wanted God to move me…to a new job, a new town, a new church, new friends…I wanted to walk away from painful circumstances as fast as I could. But God hemmed us in and didn’t give us a way to escape or run away from the difficult times. Instead, He used us to make a difference in the middle of the strife. We hung on, sometimes, it seemed by a thread, but despite how difficult it was, we did not give up.
When I wanted out and when I knew my attitude was bad, I kept coming to the Lord. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit and it isn’t something we can work up on our own strength. Remember that He said even when we are unfaithful, He is faithful? When we rely on Him, we can find the endurance to finish the race no matter how worn out we feel.
The only way to keep going when things aren’t going the way you imagined they would, is to look beyond this world. No matter how bleak our situation is, God has a future planned for us. It may be just around the corner or it may be in the next life, but there will be good days ahead. God rewards His faithful servants. He often rewards them in this life. Think of the man and woman who stood the test of time and now enjoy the peaceful twilight years of their lives together. Yes, if we can stay strong through the tough days, there will be beauty on the other side.
Now, we are living in a time of blessing, seeing how God can turn something difficult and ugly into a new start, without ever leaving home. The benefit of remaining faithful through a winding road is the ability to look back and see how God carried you through and look forward to the hope of His plans for tomorrow.
Remaining faithful for Him,
Heather
beautiful post I always want to remain faithful to Jesus, blessings Gloria
Thank you for reminding us of such a sound principle for Christian living. I want to be found faithful!
What a beautiful reminder, Heather. God indeed will see us through our struggles. Sometimes it seems easier to just walk away, but struggles can also help us grow.
Thank you so much for sharing, I really needed this today!!