Thanksgiving week is here, and everyone is asking THE big question: What are YOU most thankful for?
My family is in the process of relocating from our Southern California home all the way across the country to a lovely Nashville suburb. It’s been a time of extreme excitement, as well as supplying us all with a healthy dose of stress and (yeah, I’ll admit it…) a little fear thrown in for good measure. But through this process we have leaned on our friends for prayer and on the Lord for His guidance and wisdom. Through it all, He has been faithful!
I’ve heard the expression, “God is faithful”, my whole life. It made me wonder, what is it we really mean we we speak about the faithfulness of God?
Scripture gives us several examples of God’s faithfulness. The Hebrew root from which the words translated “faithful” and “faithfulness” in the Old Testament are derived means to prop or stay or support. The intransitive use of the word signifies to stay oneself or be supported; hence, the word “faithful”, as applied to a person, means someone a person can safely lean upon. Deuteronomy 7:9 (New International Version) Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
The Greek word used in the New Testament means trustworthy or to be relied upon, but this Greek word is the same used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word mentioned above, and of course gets its meaning from this usage. 2 Corinthians 1:20 (New International Version) For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
Once I broke it down, I realized how truly thankful I am for God’s faithfulness. It is something which is completely unyielding, even when I lack faith! He is the support on which I lean upon. Even when I think I’m standing up on my own, it is His arms who are holding me up.
Before the move, my family has numerous loose ends which all need to be addressed prior to bubble wrapping a single glass or loading that first piece of furniture into the moving truck. Saying that, I am amazed at how God is bringing things together for His purpose, and in His time. He is the ONE constant who we can totally rely on.
