There are four words in the Bible that I love. Well, many, but four that stand out. Four words that pop up often enough that I remember :) and a few weeks back God brought them back to me.
They're found in 1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV version
"but God is faithful".
If you've read the whole chapter, you'd know that Paul mostly talks about temptations, about the things that the early Israelites went through. They had their incredible experiences with God, and they had their falling away from God. And Paul calls them examples for us, examples that we would do well to learn from. Basically, the heart of Paul's message is this: don't be confidant in yourself, put your confidence in God.
I find this echoed in Psalms 118:8-9, "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes." The words come from King David, a man spent a good portion of his life on the run, in danger, or in some form of instability and uncertain threats. But the words that he wrote echoes great wisdom, wisdom that comes battered by experience. It is better to put your hope in the LORD, than any trust in man. And that's the reason why I love those four words.
but God is faithful.
You can put your hope, your trust in God, because God is faithful.
Even when we aren't.
If you were to look at your relationship with God like that of a marriage (something that the Bible talks about, with the church as the bride and Jesus as the groom), in a week we probably commit more adultery than all the women on Desperate Housewives in those six seasons. Combined.
We don't do good as faithful people to God. We're like the slutty woman in a B-grade soap opera who continually cheats on her boyfriend, though he remains eternally faithful to her. And although she always goes on about how their relationship is 'non-exclusive', but he's all like "I'm the one for you" (why yes, I am secretly referencing that scene between Brooke and Lucas from One Tree Hill season 3, wayyy back). I'll admit it, we make terrible brides sometimes.
And that's why I love those four words.
But God is faithful.
I don't know about you, but I've been pretty unfaithful. My supposedly regular times spent alone with God every day hasn't been so regular, I've been focusing my attention on trying to be someone better than on being God's child, and I haven't been the best friend I can be lately. I've failed, and truth be told, been found pretty faithless at times.
But God is faithful.
That's His promise to us. It's a promise of grace for the prodigal ones. No matter how far we are from home, He's still gonna run to the gate to meet us with an embrace the moment He sees us coming over the horizon. No matter how messed up, screwed up, faithless and fallen we are, He still loves us. Our wildest imaginings of what His love is like would only be a drop of water in the ocean that it really is. It's a love that simply won't ever end.
So I'm hoping that this is a reminder for all of us who are hurting, who are far, who are faithless and lost in ourselves.
Maybe you feel like you've failed Him,
maybe you're stuck in lies that you told,
maybe you're struggling with sin that's slowly started taking control,
maybe you're broken,
maybe you've hit rock bottom.
But God is faithful.
Yes, we're faithless
But God is faithful.