Faithful

Some years ago, I learned first hand of God’s faithfulness, although I didn’t realize it for what it was at the time.

Have you ever prayed in earnest for something and when you received the answer to the prayer, it wasn’t quite the answer you were expecting? Or maybe God answered your prayer but it didn’t look like the way you envisioned it in your mind? Yeah, same.

What do you do with that? How do you respond?

It’s easy to praise God in the good. But what about in the not so good? What about in the waiting? It’s not always so easy to remember that God is faithful. But He is ever so faithful.

Y’all know I work with teens… I’ve been particularly impacted by the faith of some as we prepare and wait for court. I hear their prayers that no matter the outcome they will accept God’s will. And I see the aftermath of a prayer answered in a way that doesn’t look the way they imagined, despite attempts to prepare them for any and all possible outcomes.

I’ve witnessed some decide to turn to the devil to pray. Reasoning within themselves that he will work faster on their behalf, despite the warnings. I’ve witnessed some seemingly forget their prayer only moments before and do the exact opposite of their earnest words.

In all of this, I’ve learned… It really doesn’t matter what our circumstance, or what we’re praying for, if we don’t truly recognize how faithful God is, won’t we – don’t we respond the same?

I remember going through my second divorce. Yes. SECOND divorce and coming to a place where I prayed, Jesus, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Did I expect to be divorced a second time? No way! Did I want to be? Absolutely not! I didn’t even feel like I got a say in the whole matter. Still, in all of that, God showed me how faithful He is and how His mercies are new each morning.

I could have totally gone another direction. Thankfully, I didn’t. I had to learn a lesson in humility. For me, both then and now, to grasp the faithfulness of God, I had to understand what it meant to be humble.

Humility didn’t/doesn’t come easy to me. Admittedly, I was taught growing up to have pride. I’m not sure how we missed James 4:6b NKJV …God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

It was later in life, through experiencing the bitterness of life, that I learned what true humility entails… See, more than just a willingness, it’s a desire to surrender/submit ourselves to God. Humility is not relying on ourselves, but on Jesus. Because, no, we can’t do it on our own. It’s not worrying about me. Because I don’t need to take any of the credit for anything. I don’t need any honor. I don’t need any focus on me. I can forget about myself, my wants, my desires, my likes, my dislikes, me, myself, and I…

When I take my eyes off of me, I can see Jesus in all of His splendor and beauty. I see that He is, He has been, He will continue to be FAITHFUL.

*Original Image by A.B