Our Father
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Faithfulness is a foundational part of God's character, and it's something we need to apply in our lives every day.
So let's consider God's faithfulness and an example of how to apply faithfulness even in difficult circumstances.
Great is Your faithfulness
So many scriptures extol and praise God for His faithfulness. Let's look at one that is really striking to me. It seems out of place. It's in the book of Lamentations, a book that is full of reminders of God's punishment for our sins. It is a depressing book about pain and suffering. But Jeremiah said in Lamentations 3:22-23:
"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (emphasis added throughout).
Jeremiah wasn't papering over the suffering. He wasn't ignoring it. He saw the punishment as further evidence of God's faithfulness. God gave promises; He gave laws; He told us the blessings and curses that would come if we obeyed or disobeyed. And God is totally, completely faithful to do what He promised.
We can be eternally thankful that His promises and desires include giving each of us a full chance to repent and obey Him, and that He wants us to be in His family so much He was willing to sacrifice His Son! Great is His faithfulness, even in those times that it looks darkest, when it seems He has forsaken us. He hasn't, Jeremiah is saying. God is doing exactly what He promised.
And God wants us to learn to be faithful, loyal and totally obedient to Him. Lucifer didn't stay faithful to God (Isaiah 14:12-15). He let thoughts of disloyalty into his mind. And so God doesn't want that to happen again-He doesn't want to have other immortal, disloyal and miserable beings. So God won't welcome anyone into His eternal family who isn't faithful and completely loyal-anyone who hasn't endured and proven his or her faithfulness to the end.
An inspiring example
So how do we learn to be faithful like our Father is faithful? We can learn a lot from the example of a faithful servant of God in a very challenging situation. We can be inspired by Daniel's example to be faithful in all things great and small.
Daniel was a young man when he was taken captive in the terrible invasion by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Though he was put into a leadership training program instead of a prison camp, he still faced challenges, even about little things like what to eat. He was faithful to his beliefs, but he did it in a respectful way that allowed him to be a faithful servant.
God tells us to be faithful to Him first, but also tells us to obey and be faithful to our leaders, bosses and families (Ephesians 6:1-8). Being faithful in little things, being faithful in all our relationships, is what helps prepare us for greater faithfulness.
How did this play out in Daniel's life, and what can we learn from his example? Let's look at an interesting passage in Daniel 6:4. At this point, Daniel had served Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants for decades. Then Darius and the Medo-Persian Empire conquered the Babylonians. What would happen to a faithful servant of the Babylonians under this new empire? Amazingly, Darius picked faithful Daniel to be one of his three governors! But the other leaders were jealous.
"So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him" (Daniel 6:4).
Daniel was faithful to King Darius as he had been faithful to Nebuchadnezzar. Of course, they all knew that Daniel would serve God first (verse 5). But how could he serve both kings faithfully? How did he adjust so quickly to different rules and ways of doing things?
Here are three takeaways I get from Daniel's faithfulness:
- Daniel was always faithful to God first, and so should we be.
- Since Daniel knew that God wants us to obey authority, he was honest, trustworthy and faithful to every authority (though always putting God first). That's an example we can follow in all of our relationships as well.
- Daniel learned faithfulness in what is least: in his diet, his studies and his thrice daily prayers. That faithfulness in little things prepared him to rule Babylon and to have much greater responsibility in the Kingdom of God. We, too, can learn to apply God's characteristic of faithfulness in the little things, and be preparing for our roles in the Kingdom of God and forever!
Well done
In the parable of the talents, the master represented Jesus Christ, who gives us spiritual talents to use productively. He wants us to grow in grace and knowledge, to grow in character, to serve, to do His work.
Matthew 25:21 tells us the response we want to hear from our Lord and Master, when we have faithfully served Him:
"Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."
For a deeper study of this fruit of God's Spirit, see " Faith and Faithfulness: Fundamental to Relationships and Responsibilities."
Mike Bennett is the editorial content manager for the United Church of God Web sites and writes the blog "Forward to the Kingdom" ( http://ucgmikebennett.wordpress.com ).