MUSIC BLOG
August 17, 2023
God’s Faithfulness, My Response
This has been quite a week. Getting back in the swing from vacation always seems to have its own stressors. Looking at the mountain of work to do and the short time to get it done is daunting. Whenever you are away from work for any length of time there are decisions that were made without your input and good or bad those things need to be addressed especially when those decisions affect you and your work. It’s not good or bad but it is a stressor. Deadlines that were a month away are now much closer and whatever was undone when you left remains undone, yep! Stressor. The grass grew, the house needs cleaning, bills need to be paid, stressors. The bank calls, automatic stressor. And to top it off, gas prices go up $.40 a gallon! Stressor.
This week, I had a decision to make. Would I allow the stressors of my life to dictate my response to life or would I trust the faithfulness of God?
I’ve been reading Job this week. When I think my friends don’t understand me and then I read Job I realize how awesome my friends are. Here was a guy who literally lost everything except his wife and his life. Job was the greatest of the men of the East and he went from hero to zero almost overnight. To top it off his body was covered with boils that he scraped the pus from as he sat in his underwear in the dirt. People came up to him and spit on him. Little kids laughed and made fun of him, and his friends tried to coerce a deep dark sinful confession out of him, not just once but 10 times. Three of his friends took 3 stabs and the young buck took one lengthy swing.
Job may not have had it 100% right, but he continued to trust God and knew in his heart where he was going when he died. True, he prayed that God would end it all right then, but He didn’t take his own life. Job was a man down on his luck. Job wrote the most beautiful passage of scripture. This passage was so memorable that centuries later, G. F. Handel used it to write “I Know that My Redeemer Liveth” for “Messiah”, a song that has encouraged and blessed millions of listeners since the 1750’s.
I also listened to David Jeremiah this week. He preached on God’s Faithfulness. Hmm, double whammy. My takeaway was that God sometimes allows me to go through the valley to teach me that even in my darkest days He is still God and He is still the same. His love for me hasn’t changed. His promises for me haven’t diminished or been altered. If God said that I am loved and that He has redeemed me those precious truths are not affected by the storm of my life or the stuff I go through.
I chose to trust God, but not until I was reminded of God’s faithfulness. If left to my own resources, I would never have come to that conclusion. It took several significant reminders from a variety of sources before I let the truths about God bring me the peace of God. When I finally saw my situation in light of God’s eternal plan I was deeply moved and comforted.
So, what’s going on with you? Has this been of week of ups and downs or maybe mostly downs? I can only offer you what helped me this week. Spend time reminding yourself of God’s faithfulness. Remind yourself of God’s promises of you and for you. Think about the things in heaven that this world can’t change or take away. Think about these things until your worries and fears melt into the preciousness of His love and FAITHFULNESS.
My scripture is the shortest passage ever for my Blog. I learned it in Sunbeams when I was 4,
1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful;
He was then, He still is, and He always will be my faithful God.
Blessings,
Marty
