Forever Faithful

God’s love for you endures forever and His power is infinite. Believe boldly and do not be afraid. As you trust Him, you will see storms calmed and seas parted. 

“Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through…Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the Israelites…saw that the Israelite army had fled…they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them…valiant men marched through the night…took down the bodies of Saul and his sons…and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh” 1 Samuel 31:1-13

We love to read stories where God’s people win every battle and beat the opposition, but what do we do with a story like this one? The text says the people were afraid and fled. It said the fighting grew fierce and Saul was critically wounded. Then he fell on his sword and died. Valiant men recovered his body and buried it. His time came to an end. More than even the physical end of their king, we see a setback for the people of God who have fled the gift of the promised land of God. They forfeited their inheritance when they fled in fear.  

Have you ever considered revisionist history?  Have you ever thought about an alternate ending? What would have happened in this battle if the people would have believed in the power of God? What if they had stood firmly, holding onto faith, and believed God was with them. Would they have fled in fear? If Saul had believed that God could heal his wounds, would he have taken his own life by the sword? Look at how fear triumphed over faith in this story.

The heroes of this chapter are the valiant men who marched through the night, not knowing what would meet them in the morning. They choose to believe that if they did what was right that God would do what was right by protecting them along the way. God did watch over this daring act of walking into the land of the wicked and they were able to bury their dead. Rather than waiting to rewrite history, how could this story shape how you approach your day? Do you believe that God is with you, for you, and has the power to strengthen you against anything you face?  

“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.” Psalms 117:1-2 

Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm in scripture and the shortest chapter in the Bible. Yet it contains the longest lasting, most impactful truths. God’s love towards us is great and His faithfulness endures forever. 

Why does that matter?  How does that change how we live? Are you living in such a way that all that you do reflects bold belief in God‘s great love and unending faithfulness to you as one of His beloved children? Many people do not. Let’s get more personal. Most of our lives each of us do not at all times. 

We say we believe in Jesus and that the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, but we allow fear every single day to impact our thinking. We listen to the lies of the enemy and worry about what will happen. Why? Why do we not believe? Have we not seen the signs of God’s love nor experienced the fruit of his faithfulness? What would happen if we lived every day without fear? What if we lived as though God was with us, within us, and for us?

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, the house of the righteous stands firm. Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food. From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward. The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice. No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Proverbs 12:1-26

Listen to the words of wisdom that flow through Solomon to the words that you are seeing today. Do you believe what he says to be true? If so, are you living in such a way that is in alignment with what has been taught? Do you believe God made you uniquely and wonderfully? Or do you feel like you have to pretend to be something you are not? Solomon says it is better to be a nobody than to pretend. 

Many people go through their lives, not knowing their identity, the person who God made them to be, nor understanding God’s love for each life He has given. Solomon says from the fruit of their lips people are fed and by the work of their hands they are rewarded. This is so true.  The words that come out of your mouth reflect what your heart believes to be true. The work that you do reflects where you find meaning. What do your words and works say about what you believe? 

Solomon says choose your friends carefully for the way of the wicked leads many astray. It has been said that you show someone your friends and they will show you your future.  Who are you surrounding yourself with? How are you helping guide other people? Are you someone who is bringing the kingdom by building up others around you and being careful about what voices have authority in your life? 

“Render a decision. Make your shadow like night at high noon…Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees…be their shelter from the destroyer. The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. We have heard of Moab’s pride but her boasts are empty. I weep, as Jazer weeps, Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards” Isaiah 16:3-10 

There comes a time to decide what you will believe. It is our actions not our intentions that speak the truth about our belief. Isaiah invites the people to render a decision, to make up their mind. It does no good for us to endlessly get tossed back-and-forth between faith and fear.  We are meant to make a decision. 

Isaiah shared which path produces a life pleasing to God. He said do not betray refugees, but be a shelter for those in need. How are you sheltering or caring for those in need? He said there will be a king who is enthroned from the family of David, who lives for justice and righteousness. He warns of what will get in the way of us following our righteous king.  Pride and fear. The two main roots of evil and sin that most often impact our lives. Are either of these impacting you now?

“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy…a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said…Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed…Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:1-27

Who is Jesus? Who did He say He was and what do the scriptures show in who He was? What you believe about Jesus will change everything about the life that you live. If you believe that, He is the savior of the world, that He is stronger than the grave, that He sees you personally and His love is great for you, and that with a word He can either bring healing or calm a storm then your life will never be the same. 

Our biggest problem is not the battles that we will face like Saul. Our biggest issues stem from not believing in the power of Jesus nor that God’s faithful love endures forever. When the pressures of life mount, when the furious storms are all around us, when all we can see are huge waves or the only noises we hear are mighty winds, fear can win. How often do we lose faith and let fear override our thinking? Does Jesus get less powerful when times are hard? No! He doesn’t even lose sleep. In this story, He is the one who said for the disciples to cross the sea and as the apostle Paul wrote that He who began a good work will carry it to completion.  He did not set them up to fail and He does not set you up to fail either.

Jesus already had a plan to get them through the storm. He knew it was coming and knew what it took to calm it. He wasn’t worried about waves nor wind because he knew with one word that things would work out. Solomon said in Proverbs that anxiety weighs down the heart but a kind word cheers it up. The word kind in Hebrew does not mean nice. It means life giving, wholesome, and beneficial. The words of Jesus were never meant to be pithy bumper stickers. They are alive and active. Kind and compassionate. They are beatitudes that bring life when we need them most and extinguish the fire of our fears. We need to stop listening to the negativity and fear of the world around us and start listening to the Holy One who speaks kindness, compassion, strength, hope and love to us in every moment.  

The question today is what do you believe? Where in your life is your faith demonstrated by how you live? Where would your plans fail apart from God's divine favor and faithfulness? Isaiah said make a choice. Render a decision. Decide who you will follow and if you will be a person who by faith follows Jesus or a person who by fear who follows the path to destruction.  Jesus wants to bring healing to broken places and give hope to the hopeless. He is our shelter in the storm and shows us the way to life is through Him. Jesus said it will be as you believe so choose to sing like David and believe that God’s love is great and his faithfulness endures forever by how you live.