God is Faithful...and He will do it.

“The One who has called you is FAITHFUL, and He will do it.” – I Thessalonians 5:24

One of my favorite hymns growing up was ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’…still is.  Lately, one of my favorite new songs is by a band named Iron Bell and it’s called ‘Faithfulness’.  I’ve listened to it no less than 100 times in the last couple weeks.  I listen to it in my bed, while I’m running, on the way to work, while I’m preparing my message…whenever I can feed my heart the lyrics and melody.  It’s like salve to my soul…

Verse 1

In the breakers that storm my faith
God my Rock and God my Hope You will prevail
You're the constant in a sea of change
What You've done and what You've said
Will never fade
What You've done and what You've said
Will never fade

Chorus
Great is Your faithfulness
Great is Your faithfulness
Always and forever
Always and forever

Verse 2
There are memories that seize my heart
But they will never steal or tear our love apart
There are victories yet to come
They are certain as the rising of the sun
They are certain as the rising of the sun!

As seasons come and go, people come and go, strength comes and goes…I just lean into the patience and diligence and constancy of God.  The older I get the more I realize how hard it is to be faithful and how rare it is to find a faithful soul to trust.  We are so fickle and frail, filled with great intentions and aspirations, but so very weak to complete what we set out to be and become, do and get done.  Life is long and being faithful all the way to the end seems almost impossible if you get to musing on it too long.  I just keep praying every day, “Give me the heart be faithful today, Lord.  Carry me to the end of the day.”  I don’t so much think about the end of my life as I do the end of the day.  It’s all about going a step a second and not a mile a minute.  I don’t know if it’s playing tricks on myself to keep me on the straight and narrow, but it works for me.

That’s why I love the verse I shared at the top.  I love the part that talks about God being faithful, but I really love where it says, “He will do it”.  What?  IT.  Whatever it is in my life and your life, God will come through.  He will give us strength to do it through his power and presence.  I can get caught up in everything “I have to do” today and miss the wonder of God “working in me both to will and to act according to his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13) Somewhere else is says, “Christ in me, the hope of glory.”  If there is any hope of glory in my life, it will come about when I recognize that it’s only going to happen as I allow Christ to do it in and through me.  When I gird up my loins and pull it off in my own strength, it might give a temporary high or offer a temporary fix, but I won’t be faithful all the way to the end.  I will burn out.

He will do it.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have to do anything, but it moves me toward dependence on God and a trust in His faithfulness, not my skill sets and gift mixes and sweet spots…those fade.  Lately, I’ve been saying to myself when I’m in the middle of something required of me: “Did I do the best I could with the time and gifts the Lord has given me and did I do it for the glory of God or the praise of men?”  So even when I have to do something, I’m trying my darndest to maintain a mindset of dependence, trusting in God’s faithfulness and his ability to pull things together and to pull things off that I couldn’t even with my best ideas and efforts. 

He’s faithful.  He will do it.  Now that’s a release valve in the pressure cooker of life.