Our Faithful God

I fell upon this passage while listening to a sermon from Crossroads. Check it out if you can: "The God of Yesterday, Today and Forever" Matt Waymeyer. It has been a blessing to study Gruden's "Systematic Theology," and I have definitely learned a lot, but one thing that has stuck with me over and over is that God is faithful. God will always provide for us and He never goes back on His promises. May we remember that the next time we doubt or the next time we question what is happening to us. The God that we serve will never forsake us, and understanding how our salvation is absolutely guaranteed because of God's love and faithfulness should cause us to rejoice, worship and glorify the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Everything we're going through should become nothing because we know that we have our eternal lives secured in heaven! Is there anything that could be better? Should anything keep us from worshipping and looking towards the eternal? I think not.

Isaiah 46:8-13

"Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. "Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, who are far from righteousness. I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; and My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, and my glory for Israel."

This passage speaks powerfully of God's omnipotence, faithfulness and perfection. Look at what is said: "For I AM GOD, and there is NO other; I am GOD and there is NO ONE like Me." If nobody else can come even close to calling themselves God, then how can we even think about questioning Him? We definitely can't; we're called transgressors here. There is NO ONE like Him, who has planned everything out already. There is NO ONE like Him who can accomplish all things for His pleasure. Note that it's for GOD's good pleasure and not ours. Consequently, when we suffer, when we sacrifice, and when things don't go our way, we should still be rejoicing, for it is God's good pleasure for it to happen that way. Isn't that a good way to think about it? God wills everything for His pleasure, and so we should be rejoicing in the fact that His will is being done, regardless of its effect on us. If we are focused on Him, then all pain, sorrow and sadness should fall away. Thus, is there any reason we need to question our God? No. He is faithful. He has a perfect plan, and it WILL be accomplished. Think about how faithful He has been since creation. To put it into perspective, think about how faithful He's been in your own life. I know that God has provided for me in ways I could never imagine were possible, and He continues to answer my prayers daily. Therefore, shall we ever question God's will for us? Shall we ever question why things happen the way they do? He has declared the beginning from the end.