Yesterday I mentioned “the rest of the story.” On the day that would have been my mother’s 100th birthday, I shared how God has worked for good in our lives in mysterious and marvelous ways, even in tragic and difficult events.
Today I reflect upon the nature of faith. I have continuously and confidently affirmed that God is God, and that God is good (Psalm 100), through all of the circumstances of my life. I am also confident that God is faithful. I did not waver in that confidence in the face of my mother’s untimely death.
Do not miss an important truth. The Old Testament declaration, God is God and God is good, is less frequent in the New Testament. With the coming of Jesus Christ, the great truth about God, declared again and again, is that God is faithful.
Here is what I have learned. The time to decide that God is faithful is not after the difficulties come. One cannot wake up each day and say, “I must decide again today if God is God and if God is good. I must decide again today if God is faithful.” Faith must be established before faith-shattering events occur. God is faithful. When difficulties come, it is too late to decide if one will respond in faith. Disciples of the faithful God are faithful people. That’s how it is for people of faith. I pray that you today will know with certainty that our God is faithful.