Faithful to the Unfaithful.

This week, I was thinking about God’s faithfulness and how it can be such a foreign concept for some of us. I’m talking about the kind of faithfulness you find in a person who you know will stick to their word. Faithfulness in keeping their promises, not letting people down.When I think about my generation, the word “faithful” is not the first word that comes to mind. Generally speaking, we aren’t very good at keeping our promises. We live in a culture of backing out, being late, and having a fear of commitment. We aren’t too phased when someone doesn’t do what they said they would do. People break trust and consequently break hearts and relationships.When it comes to our Lord, we see that He makes a lot of promises to the people He created. He sometimes asks for something in return from them, and as we are self-interested humans, that makes sense. We understand a give-and-take system. However, most people would back out of a promise if the other party didn't live up to their side of the deal.But it is not so with our Lord. He makes promise after promise to His people, knowing full well that they may not keep their end of the deal; we see our Lord never wavers. He is faithful to His word—it’s His very nature. Just look at the covenant He made with Abram; the promise He makes is confirmed in a vision as Yahweh shows that He intends to keep His side of the deal even if Abram or his descendants don’t (Genesis 15). We see the Israelites struggle, going from one god to the next, always straying from Yahweh, and yet He is faithful to His word.What does this mean for me? Well, it means that I can trust His word. The truths He shared through the Word are good. I noticed how I can put up walls in relationships, keeping my heart at arm's length, so as not to be hurt when they don’t do what they said they would. Since unwavering faithfulness isn’t built into my DNA, when someone says that I can give up control of my life to them, I’m a little hesitant. But I know that my heart and life are safest and best cared for in God's hands. He can be trusted with all my fears, worries, and struggles because He is a good God, and He is faithful to what He has said. Unlike my closest friends, who have let me down at times, Yahweh will always remain faithful. Even though I fail at the promises I try to make to Him to serve and love better, His forgiveness and grace are always there. Just like He said they would be.   words by Breanna Maier and photo by Sarah Mohan