It seems all of God’s most faithful in the Bible had moments they slipped from obedience and following God’s commands. It can be comforting, right? I mean, if they messed up, there’s hope for us.
It’s okay to remember that our sin, even after accepting God’s lordship, can be forgiven, and that we can be restored to useful service. But we can’t use others’ missteps to rationalize our sin. Whether it’s the pastor who comes back after a “moral failure” or when we look at an unflattering incident in the life one of the examples of faithfulness in the Bible, no one else’s sin makes ours okay. There’s no, But, So-and-So did such-and-such in God’s eyes. We stand on our own behavior, our own repentance, our own acceptance of grace.
Others’ missteps should instead serve as a warning. We need to check ourselves.
The first thing we probably need to check is our faith. Are we truly believing God is Who He says He is? Do we really believe He keeps His promises? That His ways truly are best?
I struggle with this. Even when I can give rational assent to God’s trustworthiness, it’s head not heart knowledge. It doesn’t fit with my experience and understanding of the world. Or, more accurately, my perception of what I have experienced, seen, and heard. Sometimes believing in God’s Sovereignty makes it harder to believe in His goodness, in His love.
But faithfulness doesn’t require unquestioning belief. It’s one of the many good things that grows through exercise. What we believe motivates what we do – our faith motivates us to be faithful to the One we believe in. As we act in faith, the more we see God’s faithfulness, the more our faith grows.
It always comes down to Jesus
As with all other good fruit in the Christian life, Jesus is our ultimate example. The climax of the faithfulness He demonstrated while living on earth was His death on the cross. His struggle in Gethsemane proves that obedience isn’t always easy no matter how faithful you are, and God’s plan and purpose aren’t without pain. We get discouraged when things are difficult. When they don’t make sense. When they hurt.
Jesus proved that it’s okay to ask God if there’s another way for His plan to be accomplished, and for Him to be glorified, but He also demonstrated that the brave humble choice is submission. It did not feel good.
Gethsemane was not the first solitary place to which Jesus withdrew to talk to His Father. We need God’s input to make the right choices, to lead us in the right direction.
When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Luke 4:42-44, NASB
Are we doing what we know is right, not just avoiding what we know is wrong? James mentioned this aspect of faithfulness.
Listen When He Speaks
Faithfulness is our August Listen When He Speaks theme. Job. David. Daniel and his three young friends. Peter. We’ll look at examples and failures of faithfulness in the lives of God’s people, of rewards and consequences, and the grace that allows them both, that lets us hurt so we can be restored.
What is Listen When He Speaks? A different kind of Scripture reading and writing plan. Learn more here. Or sign up here.
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This month’s suggested Scripture memory passage is Philippians 3:7-11. Memorize in the translation of your choice.
