When Life Is Hard - Faithfulness

Hello, my name is Jon and I am your spiritual fitness coach.

Today we are going to talk about faithfulness.

Many years ago I had to opportunity to participate in a hike that was called “the endurance hike”.

This hike lasted 24 hours and the goal was to endure the hike and see how far you got at the end.

What I learned on that hike was the importance of putting one foot in front of the other.

Just keep going.

Don’t stop even when it is hard.

By doing that, myself and those hiking with me, went 70 miles.

As I thought recently about faithfulness, this experience came to mind.

Faithfulness is taking one step after the other.

It is when we keep plodding along, even when it is hard and we would rather quit.

When we are faithful we end up going farther than we thought possible.

In 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 the Apostle Paul calls Christians to be faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:1–2 ESV

1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Repeatedly in Scripture, in the Bible, we are told of God’s faithfulness.

Let me give you just one example.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV

24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Faithful is the idea of someone who can be counted on.

We can count on God to do what He has promised!

He is faithful.

The question is, are we?

Going back to the verses in 1 Corinthians 4, we are called servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

We are then told that it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

When we trust Jesus for salvation, we believe that He died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, we become servants of Christ.

At that same moment, we become stewards of the mysteries of God.

A steward is someone who has been given charge of something, in this case, the mysteries of God.

The idea of mysteries here are all the truths of salvation.

We have been entrusted with the truths of salvation, the truths of who God is and what He has done for us.

The requirement for those who have been so entrusted is to be faithful.

If you want a picture of faithfulness, think of Joseph.

Betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, lied about by Potiphar’s wife, and sent to prison.

And yet through all of that he does not lose sight of his faith, and he continually gives God the glory for his accomplishments.

That is faithfulness.

We find the source of Joseph’s faithfulness in the end of Genesis when he says this to his brothers.

Genesis 50:20 ESV

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

We can be faithful in the midst of difficulty and trial when we remember that God is the one in control.

No matter how hard things get, we can trust our faithful God and in turn be faithful to Him.

We are stewards, we have been entrusted with the good news of Jesus, we can faithfully live for God knowing that He will never let us down.

To live with faithfulness this is what we must do.

Remember that God is in control.

Trust Him to meet all of our needs.

And do what He has called us to do.

Be faithful today.