The Faithfulness of God

We have had a very difficult 17 months. Virus, Lock downs, death, distress, anxiousness, stress, and mental health issues, I would even say our spiritual health has been effected. It has not been easy. As we look to God for help we can see that these things are not new or exclusive to our time. So I believe we can suggest like all that we experience God understands. He understands all you have struggled with throughout this last year plus. Lam. 3 is the cry of one who has struggled and what describes what that has felt like for him. But then there is hope.

Lamentations 3:1–18 NKJV

1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. 2 He has led me and made me walk In darkness and not in light. 3 Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day. 4 He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. 5 He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe. 6 He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago. 7 He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy. 8 Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer. 9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. 10 He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush. 11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate. 12 He has bent His bow And set me up as a target for the arrow. 13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins. 14 I have become the ridicule of all my people— Their taunting song all the day. 15 He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. 16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes. 17 You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. 18 And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the Lord.”

The writer of this portion of scripture understood pain and struggles in his life. He expresses his feelings of hopelessness. I would guess he would say he feels our pain. He was aquatinted with struggles as we have been for this last year and half. There have been others throughout history that have been aquatinted with similar pain as we have. But they understood as we will see with the author of this passage that God still remains faithful even in the confusion of struggle.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

THOMAS OBEDIAH CHISHOLM (1866-1960) suffered most of his life from poor health. After he became Methodist minister, his ailments forced him to resign after serving only one year. Chisholm enjoyed writing and often submitted his poetry to Christian magazines. He never earned much from his efforts, so he obtained a modest income selling life insurance. He was reading Lamentations 3 one day when the powerful truth of God's unwavering devotion struck a deep chord within his heart. Quickly Chisholm penned this hymn that would bless countless believers for generations to follow: "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." Though he had suffered many hardships and disappointments in his life, these did not blind Chisholm to the numerous blessings God had faithfully bestowed upon him.

I think you all know it.

Great is Thy faithfulness O God my Father There is no shadow of turning with Thee Thou changest not Thy compassions they fail not As Thou hast been Thou forever will be

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

This hymn is one those that gets me through those tough days. It reminds me that in worst day I still have a Saviour to get me through. We have had quite the year wouldn’t you say. It has been filled with uncertainty and difficult days. Often we don’t have any idea what will be thrown our way next, what new restriction, expectation, or mandate. But one thing has not changed , one thing that has remained constant. What has that been? Our God.

We have seen the greed of nations, the lust for power, the taking advantage of fears, and the out right misleading of the masses from ever side. But God has remained the same yesterday, today and yes forever. He has not left us, he has not turned his back on us, his message remains the same and he continued to say come all who are burdened and heavy ladened. God is remains faithful.

I believe today we need to hear this and be reminded of this. As we look back through this time in our history I believe we will be able to see how God has been faithful to us. We as a church have been protected and sustained by God. He is faithful. As a family we have had dark days, down days, but God is seeing us through the other side of these days.

Lamentations 3:19–21 NKJV

19 Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. 20 My soul still remembers And sinks within me. 21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.

and then here are the word from our main portion of the text today.

Lamentations 3:22–23 NKJV

22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

As we start every morning we don’t really know what our day will bring. We might have a plan. We plan to get up, get dress, go to work but after that it is up in the air. We don’t know what the drive will be like, or what else the day will deal us. Some people thrive in that kind of environment but most of us don’t.

I like routine and as soon as that is interrupted my world is turned upside down.

I would imagine some of you can relate. That is why this last 16th months have been very taxing on me.

But God is not effected by the world around us and He is the same regardless of the difficulties we face or what happens in the world.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 NKJV

3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

The day starts off great but as you step outside your door it seems to go strait down to hell from there. Can I get a testimony. Hey it could be the moment you put one foot down on the floor from your bed.

I know i have been in that place where no matter what I do my world around me simply is against me.

But there is one thing that I often forget on those miserable days. “The Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect me from the evil one.” But if that is truly the case we need to cast our cares upon Him.

1 Peter 5:6–7 NKJV

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

and

Philippians 4:6–7 NKJV

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

When your day is starting to go sideways that is not the time to give up but it is the time to give it to the Lord. The problem is many of us wait until the day has gone right in the toilet and it is sucking us right down into the vortex of the flush so to speak. We need to learn to trust from the break of dawn to trust in the faithfulness of God.

But hear me it is not too late, it is not too late for God, for the Lord is Faithful and He can pull a life up and out of danger that’s spiralling down into the abyss. If we will call out to him, He is faithful

Psalm 86:5–7 NKJV

5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. 6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me.

The Lord is willing in His great Faithfulness to hear your plea for help. He is willing to walk with you in your darkest moments when your world is upside down. Why because of his faithfulness.

The word of God is so important in understanding the faithfulness of God. Many of you now carry it on your phone. When your day is going side ways and it looks like it is about to get worse look to the word of God, open it up, read its promise, the truth of God’s love and compassions, it is ever a reminder that God is always near. You see when our world is turned upside down this is when we need to turn to our faithful God and the best symbol He can get you through the that day is His Word. The Bible

My Favorite Illustrations Willard Johnson on the Bible

Willard Johnson on the Bible

Generations follow generations—yet it lives.

Nations rise and fall—yet it lives.

Kings, dictators, presidents come and go—yet it lives.

Torn, condemned, burned—yet it lives.

Doubted, suspected, criticized—yet it lives.

Damned by atheists—yet it lives.

Exaggerated by fanatics—yet it lives.

Misconstrued and misstated—yet it lives.

Its inspiration denied—yet it lives.

Yet it lives—a lamp to our feet,

a light to our paths,

a standard for childhood,

a guide for youth,

a comfort for the aged,

food for the hungry,

water for the thirsty,

rest for the weary,

light for the heathen,

salvation for the sinner,

grace for the Christian.

To know it is to love it;

To love it is to accept it;

To accept it means life eternal.

In this Book you will find the faithfulness of God. In God’s Word we can find the way which will light our path and help us to see beyond the things the make our days filled with trouble. In it you will find a Loving God who is faithful even in our tendency to sin, even in our tendency to trust in the world, even in our tendency to go our own way. In this book you will find the Faithful Father, loving Son, and Strengthening Spirit.

It will lead us to God and find in it his faithfulness.

My Favorite Illustrations (Love’s Quiet Confidence)

Love’s Quiet Confidence

Though waves and storms go o’er my head, Though strength and health and friends are gone, Though joys be withered all and dead, Though every comfort be withdrawn, On this my steadfast soul relies—Father, Thy mercy never dies! Fixed on this ground will I remain, Though my heart fail and flesh decay: This anchor shall my soul sustain, When earth’s foundations melt away: Mercy’s full power I then shall prove, Loved with an everlasting love.—John Wesley

It’s so true that our days will be filled this obstacles to trip us up, sickness to consume us, beast to attack us, the devil to trip us up. But our God, our Father, our Saviour, our Comforter will never leave us nor forsake us. The world is filled daily with difficulties that you can be certain of, but the Faithfulness of God is certain as well. You can find Him in the Bible on your phone, you can call out to Him as the Psalmist in the darkest moment, He is going walking with you when you follow Him as Saviour of your life.

Pandemics, governments, religious people, cults, and more have no power over those who call upon the name of the LORD.

Romans 8:35–39 NASB95

35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Are you struggling in your life! Has this pandemic sent you to dark places in your mind and life? Have you found that it is hard to get up in the morning? Maybe each day you feel you are alone and that you have nowhere to turn.

In Jesus you are never alone, you are never without help, you are never without the strength to face the day. With a life given to a Faithful loving God you are never alone, never without hope, never without strength to face the day.

My Favorite Illustrations A Verse of Hope

A Verse of Hope

An old man was asked his favorite Bible verse. He replied, “It’s the one that says, ‘And it came to pass.’ ” When questioned why, he answered, “When trouble comes, I just say, ‘And it came to pass.’ ”

Revelation 22:12–17 NKJV

12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Are you weary? Are you down? Are you struggling? Jesus is saying come! As we move past this pandemic if you have not been managing well Jesus says come! Great is thy faithfulness oh God my Father.

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

The author of chapter 3 of Lamentations goes on from verse 23 to say.

Lamentations 3:24–26 NKJV

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. 26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.

Let’s pray