On God’s faithfulness
I’m reading Judges in the Bible right now and it’s basically a repetitive story of God’s people, the Israelites, flip flopping between following God and following their own sinful desires. The story goes “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord and served the Baals and the Asherahs.” (false gods of the people who lived around them) As a result, the Lord allowed them to experience oppression from their enemies. Then they cried out to God for help. He saved them. They worshiped Him for a short period of time. And then the whole cycle began again with: “Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord…”
Something I’ve noticed about myself when I read the Bible is that I often judge the people in it for the mistakes they make. I look at the Israelites and think, “How could you forget what the Lord has done for you AGAIN?!” I see the Pharisees and think, “How could you be so arrogant?!” I look at Adam and Eve and think, “You had ONE job… Could you really not resist taking a bite? You walked with God daily! How could you so easily disobey Him?!” And I look at Peter I think, “After all you had been through with Jesus, how could you deny Him?!”
But you know what I forget? Two things: First, I have the whole Bible in my hands daily. I have the whole book, the whole story, the whole picture of God’s goodness and faithfulness and mercy and love and grace. (I say “whole”, but what I mean is whole up until this point, meaning the story isn’t over yet! We are still living part of the story and someday Jesus will come back!) None of those people I so easily judge had the perspective I have today. They didn’t have a beautifully bound book with all the proof that they should trust God, because they were living those moments. Their lives are the proof that I so thankfully stand on. But second, and I think more importantly, I often forget that I am more like the Israelites, Pharisees, Adam and Eve, and Peter than I like to admit.
“Once again, Katrina did evil in the sight of the Lord; she forgot the Lord and served her own selfishness and ego.” Once again I walked away from my daily walk with the Lord. Once again I forgot His faithfulness. Once again I placed my hope and trust in created things rather than the Creator. Once again I built my own alters to myself through achievements and the acceptance of others. Once again I felt the crushing weight of the emptiness of a life apart from my loving Father. Once again I reaped the consequences and oppression that come with a life not submitted to the Lord. And you know what, once again I cried out to the Lord and once again, in His faithfulness He answered me.
I am forgetful like the Israelites. I am prideful like the Pharisees. I am disobedient like Adam and Eve. And I am afraid like Peter. God has been faithful to me all my life, yet my life is a story of “agains” where I lose my way and, like the Good Shepherd that He is, God so lovingly brings me back to Him. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve prayed the prayer, “Lord, I want to want to follow you. I don’t even have the desire to follow you, so I’m asking for the desire to follow you.” He has answered my cry. every. single. time.
It’s kind if like when Ellie comes to me with a toy she can’t quite figure out yet and yells, “HEP!” When I don’t know what to do or how to find my way back, I just cry, “HELP!” and as the good Father that He is, he answers me.
“Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and He gave them a deliverer…” He rescued the Israelites again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and… Some of the Pharisees humbled themselves, followed Jesus, and received eternal life. Adam and Eve still spoke with God after they sinned. And Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” after Peter denied Him. God is faithful and because He sent His Son Jesus to satisfy the penalty due for our sins, we stand forgiven for every time we walk away, for our pride, for our disobedience, and for our fear. Jesus is the deliverer for all those who believe.
The Bible is really one big story of God’s faithfulness to a faltering and fumbling mankind. We fail often, but we can find hope in the fact that God’s love never fails. I find solace in the fact that the people in the Bible were just as imperfect as me, yet God never gave up on them. He rescues us again, and again, and again. All we need do is call His name and He is faithful to answer. every. single. time.
