Psalm 36:5 NKJV
What a powerful phrase! “Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” God's unwavering faithfulness is beyond our human understanding. Everything about Him is immense, boundless, and incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, and never breaks His word. To every promise or prophecy, the Lord has remained perfectly true; every covenant He has pledged He will fulfill, for “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). And in Lamentations 3:22-23, the prophet writes, "The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning."
God's faithfulness is a key theme throughout the Bible, highlighting His constant and consistent reliability, trustworthiness, and unwavering commitment to fulfilling His promises and covenants. God's faithfulness should be the foundation of our understanding of God's nature and His relationship with mankind.
No wonder it's the very characteristic of God that satan tries to impugn! Think about it. The Word says God HEARS and ANSWERS our prayers. Now, as you read that, I wonder how many thought, "Not all of them," or "Not mine."
See? That right there is an evil, subtle, and effective lie of satan - designed to destroy our faith in God and His willingness and ability and yes, His faithfulness to answer our prayers. If we believe God doesn't hear our prayers and doesn't answer them, how do we put our faith and trust in Him? Even when the answer is not the one we want, our prayers have been heard and answered. Sometimes the answer is no.
Matthew 26:39 NLT, Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.” Jesus had done everything right - everything God had told Him to do. He did not deserve to be punished. He did not deserve to be crucified. Jesus had never sinned once. Not one time! And as a man, Jesus did not want to suffer the whole crucifixion ordeal. He hadn't done anything to deserve it! He prayed and pleaded more than once to not have to do it, yet always ended with "Your will be done."
Do we understand that without Christ's perfect submission to our Father's will and plan, all of mankind would have been eternally lost?!? There would be no forgiveness of our sins! There would be no redemption! There would be no way back to right-standing with God!
Not everything bad that happens in our lives is from satan. Sometimes, it's part of God's plan and can be used for God's glory when we submit it to Him. To witness to someone, to point someone toward salvation. An opportunity to cross paths with someone who needs to be a witness to God's love in action. Pray as Jesus taught us to pray, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine." By all means, pray and ask God to deliver you from it, but like Jesus, "Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine."
Prayer:
Matthew 26:39 NLT, Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.” Jesus had done everything right - everything God had told Him to do. He did not deserve to be punished. He did not deserve to be crucified. Jesus had never sinned once. Not one time! And as a man, Jesus did not want to suffer the whole crucifixion ordeal. He hadn't done anything to deserve it! He prayed and pleaded more than once to not have to do it, yet always ended with "Your will be done."
Do we understand that without Christ's perfect submission to our Father's will and plan, all of mankind would have been eternally lost?!? There would be no forgiveness of our sins! There would be no redemption! There would be no way back to right-standing with God!
Not everything bad that happens in our lives is from satan. Sometimes, it's part of God's plan and can be used for God's glory when we submit it to Him. To witness to someone, to point someone toward salvation. An opportunity to cross paths with someone who needs to be a witness to God's love in action. Pray as Jesus taught us to pray, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine." By all means, pray and ask God to deliver you from it, but like Jesus, "Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine."
Prayer:
Father,
We pray as Paul prayed in his letter to the Corinthians. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by You. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Father, that is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. Open our eyes to see that our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. That they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! Lord, be the Lifter of our heads so we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. Thy will be done, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen
We pray as Paul prayed in his letter to the Corinthians. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by You. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Father, that is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. Open our eyes to see that our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. That they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! Lord, be the Lifter of our heads so we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. Thy will be done, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen
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