God’s Faithfulness

Thoughts from: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

The only serious mistake we can make when illness comes, when anxiety threatens, when conflict disturbs our relationships with others is to conclude that God has gotten bored looking after us and has shifted his attention to a more exciting Christian, or that God has become disgusted with our meandering obedience and decided to let us fend for ourselves for a while, or that God has gotten too busy fulfilling prophecy in the Middle East to take time now to sort out the complicated mess we have gotten ourselves into. That is the only serious mistake we can make. It is the mistake that Psalm 121 prevents: the mistake of supposing that God’s interest in us waxes and wanes in response to our spiritual temperature.

It’s great that God isn’t like us. He loves us, is committed to us and doesn’t give up on us. It’s so easy to judge Him through our eyes. We think He will treat us as we treat others.

He knows I am a sheep. I follow but I also wander. I forget lessons I’ve learned and have to travel the path again. And there He is right beside me – a true friend. He seems to be enjoying the journey. He doesn’t point out that I should have already learned this lesson or should have gotten beyond this behavior a long time ago.

The greatest thing is that He is changing me bit by bit. Someday I will be like Him. Someday He will see Himself in me. But that’s not today.

Philip