God’s Faithfulness

This past Sunday, March 9th, 2014, we heard stories from four people who spoke on God’s faithfulness to them over the years of their life. All four stories are unique. All four stories are a testimony of God’s relentless faithfulness to us. All four stories have the same message – He will never fail you. No matter how dark things are around you, no matter how lonely  you feel, and no matter how much you wonder where God is at in the midst of your everyday life – He remains faithful to you. We learned that you must allow yourself to be faithful to Him. We learned that you must never give up. We learned that God truly is the author and perfector of our faith. It really is His story. We get to participate with Him. As you participate with Him and as you learn how faithful He is to you, you will find hope.

Our faithfulness to Him maybe be feeble at times, but even in our feeble and sometimes fragile faith, He will never you. In the midst of those times when you feel feeble and fragile, you can begin to see God’s faithfulness. He is always there because He is ever-present. Our emotions, our circumstances, and sometimes just by choice, we can’t recognize it. That doesn’t mean  he quits being faithful just because we can’t recognize it. When you do recognize it, you become like the publican (tax collector) in the story where the Pharisee is praying, “boy, I am glad I am not like him.” The publican, who recognizes God’s undeserving faithfulness to him, is humbled and cries out for mercy. This is what I believe happens when we recognize God’s faithfulness to us – we are humbled. The following stories give testimony to this.

The following are the mental notes I took from each person’s sharing.

Iola Seekins

Iola has always known that God is faithful. She grew up in a Christian home, made a commitment to follow Christ at a young age,  and went to church every Sunday. On one particular Sunday, her dad told her that they might not get to go to church. She lived during a time when they rationed tires. Her dad told his family that the car had a bad tire and they needed a new one. The vehicle wasn’t safe to drive. They  had to wait for permission from the government to go get a new tire. Iola prayed and prayed that they would get permission. She looked in the mailbox and to her delight the government gave their family permission to go get a new tire. Iola has also walked through breast cancer. She experienced His faithfulness as she was wheeled into the operating room – leaving her family behind. She asked for a peace to accept whatever the outcome of the surgery was. After her surgery, she had chemo and radiation treatments. Iola was healed. Because of the peace she had she was no longer concerned about her cancer. No matter what the result, she knew God was going to continue to be faithful to her.

Dana South

Dana’s faith journey began when her grandmother faithfully took her to church. At an early age she understood that there was a God. She didn’t have a relationship with Him but she knew He was there.

As she was growing up there were some difficult moments in her family. Her dad was an alcoholic and she would hear her mom and dad verbally fighting while trying to sleep. She spent some nights crying in her room and asking God to help them to stop. When her dad had open heart surgery, she once again went to God asking Him to heal her dad. She didn’t know if her dad would make it through the surgery or not. She spent nights crying and praying for her dad as her dad went through the recovery process.

After she graduated from college, the job search began. After filling out numerous amount of job applications and sending out many resumes, she did not get the response she was hoping to get. Once again, she spent time in her room, crying, praying and wondering if she would ever get a call for a teaching job.

After being in ministry with her husband for 16 years, her husband’s (me) integrity as a church leader was called into question. This was a difficult time for her as she listened to people talk in negative ways about his character and ministry. There were some lonely moments during this time. Once again, she spent time crying, praying, and asking God what is going on.

She just recently learned that her mom has cancer. Once again, her faith is being tested. She knows that God will not leave her or forsake her. She knows God will be faithful.

She shared that this is when she experienced and began to understand God’s faithfulness. All those times just mentioned, were times where she discovered how faithful God was to her. These were “maturing in the faith” moments. She didn’t know the outcome of any of these circumstances in life.  She simply cried out to Him. She learned that God is  faithful whether God answered her prayer or not. He is there, He is always there.

Sandi Miller

Sandi shared several stories about how faithful God has been to her. From laundry soap to healing a young man (Jonathan F.) and giving him back his life.

The story that stood out to me was when she stood with David and Becca (Fulda) when Jonathan was literally dying in the other room and prayed for wisdom and for his healing. She stayed with them. She confidently reassured them that God was not done with their brother. She prayed. God healed.

Jessica Avery

Jessica didn’t grow up in a Christian home. Both of her brothers were drug dealers, her sister was an alcoholic, and the primary buyers of her brothers’ business were her parents. Growing up, Jessica was the ideal child. She read a lot. She didn’t cause trouble and she stayed home a lot on the weekends. She hardly ever get into trouble. When she was a child she remembers her parents offering  her an alcoholic beverage. She didn’t drink but her little sister did. From that point, her little sister became an alcoholic.

Jessica didn’t get to church much until her parents decided they were going to go to church. After a while, she eventually started going to youth classes at the church. She met some friends. She was invited to youth camp. At youth camp she was told that she was a gift from God and that He wanted a relationship with her. Jessica asked Jesus to be Lord of her life at that camp. She has been following Christ ever since.

Jessica’s faith story appears uneventful and non-dramatic. God didn’t save her from anything. She has no incredible story of coming out of drugs, alcohol, or any other kind of addiction. As she talked with  her brother about her story, he shared that he would trade his story for hers any day. Her brother “OD’d” in the basement of her house. No one knew what was going on. He shared with her that he laid there and he cried out to God. God showed up and literally and physically saved him. He met God in a desperate time in his life. He said to Jessica that God saved her from all that. Jessica still doesn’t understand why God saved her from all that. She is thankful that He spared her from so much pain and heartache. She is thankful for His faithfulness.

Her little sister who was the alcoholic is now attending Bible college and given up drinking. Her parents are once again back on the right track.

He is faithful. In each of these stories I hope you saw a glimpse of how He will never fail you. Even when you don’t recognize it – He is faithful to you. Even when you don’t feel it – He is faithful to you. His faithfulness to you is not dependent on your faithfulness to Him.

2 Timothy 2:13 – If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

This verse reminds us that while we maybe fickle and feeble in being faithful to Him – He remains faithful because that is who He is. I am hoping these stories will inspire you to examine where you have experienced His faithfulness. I encourage  you to respond to the questions below. I believe you will discover how faithful He has been to you.

Grab a piece a paper and spend some time reflecting on these statements and questions:

1. Take a moment to record, in just a sentence or two, times that God has been faithful to  you. Take time to thank Him for His faithfulness. And if the opportunity arises, share with someone your stories of God faithfulness.
2. In what area of your life do you need to trust God? Where is there a struggle, a hurt, a pain, a fear that you know you need to turn over to God? A job situation? A relationship? A sickness? Your finances? An addiction?

Let God show you His faithfulness  ……… again.