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A faithful presence of love in the absences of our city.

Faith By Faithfulness

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Last night, I sat around with my community group sipping on some decaf coffee and half-listening to the conversation as my ear was partially attuned to my son dumping a whole box of building blocks onto the floor in the room around the corner.  The discussion had centered around God’s faithfulness to Abraham throughout his life, and the many promises proclaimed directly to Abraham, but fulfilled after his death. The focus shifted. “Why is it important to recognize God’s patterns of faithfulness? How does it shape your view of God and yourself?”

Suddenly, stories of God’s faithfulness despite our own limitations in knowledge of the bigger picture, His perfect timing, and our constant doubts and impatience poured out from everyone in the room.  We each reflected on how God’s constancy in our lives through marriage, birth, jobs, and health had far surpassed our expectations or schemes. And yet, we all discussed the hardship to reflect on His faithfulness, His many fulfilled promises, and the glimpses of His great plan for us and still fully trust that He will continue to be faithful.  Why?

To answer for my own heart, I think it leads me back to our advent season as we discussed what it looks like to offer God our impossible prayers.  A pastor from St. Paul, Minnesota, put it this way, “I think many of us treat Abraham with some hesitation. We know that we ought to admire him. He’s Father Abraham, the man of faith.  And yet, because of his story, we don’t want to get too close. We don’t want to be too like Abraham.  We shrink back, lest God call us to do the unthinkable.”

I sit in a place of ease to recall and reflect on God’s faithfulness, both in my own life, and the life of Abraham, but I still approach this topic of trusting the Lord to be consistent with fear.  I’m fearful that some things I ask of Him, and some things He promises are so big, so scary, and so uncertain, that maybe I shouldn’t ask. Maybe God would respond with the unthinkable. Maybe it would be too hard to walk through the to-be-fulfilled promise.  Maybe I would be required to live a life like Abraham’s - full of amazing promises and a life that is faith-dependant, but maybe I can’t do that.

Realizing the state of my heart made me uncomfortable, and I had no problem leaving multiple times to attend to the mess I knew was being created with the building blocks.  But ultimately, I was avoiding this confrontation with the Holy Spirit. One that brought me back to this uncomfortable thought and that I’m exactly right… I can’t do it.

And then the conversation shifted again.  This time to our recognition that our shortcomings, our inability to trust, to pray the impossible prayer, to walk in boldness of the Lord’s calling is exactly what we’re thankful for.  This helpless state is the exact reason that we see God’s faithfulness! If we had the ability to carry these tasks out in our strength, there wouldn’t be much reason for a faithful God.

So today, I have been reflecting on my God’s faithfulness through the ages, especially noticing that He provides, He fulfills promises, and He remains unchanging in the midst of my unfaithful nature.  Because I cannot keep my word, the Lord keeps His, and from that, I have salvation.

“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and through the centuries.”

~ Emily Spare