By Jordann McMahan
When you hear people talk about God’s faithfulness, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of a particular story from the Bible, such as when God led the Israelites out of Egypt. Perhaps you think of the ways God continued to seek after people, even when they were not the most faithful to God.
Thinking about God’s faithfulness could also point you to a time in your life when things worked together in a way that only God could make happen. When the diagnosis, the disaster or the despair were too much to hold, maybe you had an experience of God’s presence that was especially meaningful.
I think about the ways the people in my life have displayed God’s faithfulness. I think about the ways my mother has shown up for me. Even on my worst days, one of her gifts is meeting me where I am and reminding me of her love. I also am reminded of the friends and mentors who journeyed with me through seasons of change and great challenge. God has surprised me by putting people in my life at the exact moment I needed them.
During the service today, we will spend some time singing and reflecting on God’s faithfulness. The writer of “I Depend Upon Your Faithfulness” derives the words of this short song from Lamentations 3:23. A central theme of the song is the idea that as we journey through life, God journeys with us.
Lamentations is not the first thing that came to my mind when considering God’s faithfulness. However, God certainly displayed loyalty, steadfastness and trustworthiness in the ways God journeyed with people through that particularly devastating season.
The faithfulness of God displayed throughout the Bible and in our life experiences show us that, even when we are asking incredibly difficult questions, our questions are not too much for God to handle. Even when isolation consumes us, we are not alone. Even when hope feels silly or pointless, God is faithfully at work in us, around us and through us, bringing about goodness, mercy and love.
As we gather to worship today as a community of faith, take a moment to remember the journey you have been on with God. God is here with us. Life is so very hard many days, but God is faithful.