Knowing A Faithful God

In his excellent book, The God You May Not Know, Dr. David Jeremiah shares insights into the character and person of God whom we know but he takes us deeper into subjects like: Knowing the God you worship; Knowing a Holy God; ... an Eternal God; a Changeless God; etc.

One of the chapters, "Knowing A Faithful God," Dr. Jeremiah reminds us of the 6th century B.C. prophet Jeremiah who lamented over the demise of Judah and Jerusalem which fell to the Babylonians.  He writes, "Every king was worse than his predecessor, and the godlessness of the age accelerated like a runaway train despite Jeremiah's earnest preaching and pleading...As Jeremiah watched, the Babylonians breached the walls, massacred the citizens, imprisoned the nobles, destroyed the city, and burned the temple of the Lord.  According to tradition, Jeremiah, who survived the carnage, went to the Mount of Olives, sat traumatized in rags, and looked over the smoldering ruins of his city."

Where was God through all of the devastation that happened in that day?  Down through the centuries, wars and natural disasters have fallen on people and the same question has been asked again and again.  Recently, the devastating tornados which hit western Kentucky and destroyed the town of Mayfield, leaving behind numerous people dead, and then the fires in Boulder County, Colorado after Christmas which burned some 1,000 homes, have people asking, "where was God?" Or "why would God allow this to happen?"

One of the great hymns that Christians still sing today, taken from the 3rd chapter of Lamentations is "Great is Thy Faithfulness."  It is not that God did not show up or that He is sometimes "faithless."  Rather, He is always there, always present in the storms and devastations of life!  He is always "a Faithful God."  

In his letter to the church in Rome, the apostle Paul wrote, "God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose" (8:28).  Following the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks, churches were filled to overflowing as people were driven to prayer as they sought answers from God.  God was there and He was glorified in and through that devastation.  Yet, the American people soon forgot, and they returned to their faithless lives.

Dr. Jeremiah wrote in the last paragraph of his chapter about God's Faithfulness: "We're living in days similar to Jeremiah's when it seems every succeeding government is worse than its predecessor, where moral foundations are crumbling, and where people are no longer true to their word.  Unfaithfulness abounds.  But God is faithful in His creation and in His revelation, and not one of His promises can fail (italics mine).  His faithfulness frees us from the grip of worry, it assures us of answered prayer, it protects us from evil, it triggers our praise, and insures our tomorrow.  We worship a faithful God.  That's why one of our greatest joys is saying:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not.
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be."

A day is coming that soon will be when our Faithful God will bring everything to a close.  He has offered eternal life through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.  The apostle John wrote, "To all who receive Him, who believe in His name, He has given the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).  To all who reject God's love and promise of life, a day of reckoning and judgment will come when separation from God will happen in eternal punishment.  

Yes, God is a Faithful God, but He also is a just and Holy God who requires us to believe in Him and to trust Him.  Like Joshua of old, the decision has been set before you.  He said, "Choose you this day whom you will serve...as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord!"

--- Jeremiah, David, The God You May Not Know, Turning Point for God, 2018