God's faithfulness Archives - Page 2 of 3

Wait Patiently – The Lord is Faithful {No Matter What Monday}

August 28, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Last year, I let my kids stay up to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve. They were bursting with anticipation and constantly kept an eye on the clock as they waited for the big moment to arrive. We turned on the tv just in time to watch the sparkling ball descend and usher in the start of 2017. Then my kids turned to me with disappointed faces and whined, “Was that it?! That was the big ball??” I don’t know what they were waiting for, but the reality didn’t live up to the expectation.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you waited for something you thought would be wonderful, and it turned out to be mediocre. Maybe you’re still waiting, and you wonder if your waiting will be worth it.

We’ve been talking about God’s faithfulness for the past few weeks. We’ve seen that God keeps His promises. We’ve learned that we can hold on to our hope and entrust our souls to our faithful Creator. Today we ask the question, “If we are convinced of God’s faithfulness, how should we respond?”

We find a clue in Romans 8:25:

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Are you still hoping for what you don’t yet see? Wait for it with patience.

We wait patiently with confidence because we know our hope will not put us to shame (Romans 5:5).

We wait patiently with peace because God knows what we need (Philippians 4:19).

We wait patiently with expectation because there will be a glorious end to our waiting (1 Peter 5:10).

We won’t get to the end of our wait and find disappointment. We won’t frown and ask, “Is that it?!” When we see the Father’s glory and His faithfulness to His children, we’ll find it was worth every second of our faith-filled wait.

No matter what you face this week, wait patiently because the Lord is faithful.

Trust the Faithful Creator to Perfectly Guard Your Soul {No Matter What Monday}

August 21, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Confession time: I am a control freak. This admission is no big surprise to those who know me! One annoying side effect of my control-freak condition is that I stink at delegating. I love the idea of it—I’d like you to do some of the work. But in the back of my mind, I’m wondering if you’ll do a good job. Will you get busy and forget? Will you hand it off to someone else? Will I need to fix your mistakes?

But what if you were perfect? What if you could show me a flawless record of always doing exactly what you said you would do? What if I knew you would excel in every task I handed you? If I believed these things were true, I’d trust you with anything!

We’ve been looking at God’s faithfulness for the past two weeks. This week’s Scripture tells us that we can trust our faithful God with the most important task—the security of our souls.

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:19)

In this passage, Peter is encouraging his readers to persevere through persecution. He tells them there’s something for them to do, and there’s something for them to leave in God’s hands.

It’s God’s job to guard our souls. We don’t need to fear persecution, suffering, or even death – because our faithful Creator can be trusted with the eternal care of our souls. The One who made us has also redeemed us and will guard our souls. Because He is faithful, He can be trusted to do so perfectly and completely.

While we delegate our soul-security to our faithful Creator, we are to do good works, even in hard times. It seems like a tall order! But when the responsibility for protecting ourselves is given to the Lord, we can focus on living out our faith in the midst of suffering.

No matter what you face this week, you can entrust your soul to your faithful Creator.

Hold Fast to the Faithful One {No Matter What Monday}

August 14, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

My husband and I spent most of the 1990’s watching Seinfeld. (Anyone else?!) In one of my favorite episodes, Jerry arrives at the rental car counter and learns they ran out of cars. He is baffled that, despite his reservation, the company doesn’t have a car for him. He tells the employee, “You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation – the holding.”

We can sometimes fall into similar thinking about our faith. We’ve seen the Lord work in our lives, and we know His salvation – but will it stick? Will our faith hold until the end? How can we have an enduring faith?

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23, NIV)

In this verse, the writer of Hebrews encourages us to hold on to the hope we profess. This hope isn’t wishful thinking, the way we often use the word “hope” in English. For a Christian, hope is confidence in the rock-solid promises of God. We can hold unswervingly to this hope because—and only because—the One who makes these promises is faithful to keep them.

Our assurance doesn’t come from the strength of our faith, but from the object of our faith – the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. God can be trusted to always complete what He started (Philippians 1:6). His faithfulness is the reason we can grab on tight to hope and never let go.

When you wonder if your faith is enough, hold fast to the faithful One who keeps all His promises to you . . . the One who will hold you until the end.

No matter what you face this week, hold on to your hope, because He who calls you is faithful.

When You Face An Impossible Situation {guest post on (in)courage.me}

December 10, 2016 by Marissa Leave a Comment

It was one week before Christmas 2010. I sat in my oncologist’s office at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, 600 miles from my home in Arkansas, clutching my husband’s hand as tears streamed down my face.

My oncologist had delivered the great news first: after two rounds of high-dose chemotherapy, the rare and aggressive tumor in my breast was much smaller. But there was bad news. My platelets were dangerously low from the chemo, and I still needed at least four more rounds to have a chance at survival.

My doctor had a solution.

In a clinical trial at MD Anderson, I would receive an experimental drug to boost my platelets. But I would need to spend two out of every three weeks in Houston. At that time, I feared I wouldn’t live long enough to walk my 18-month-old daughter into first grade. I certainly didn’t want to spend any of my time in a Houston hospital room.

But I didn’t have a choice.

I’m sharing God’s story of faithfulness in my life over at (in)courage today! It’s a wonderful community and provides rich devotional content daily–I hope you’ll continue reading there, check out their other posts, and subscribe to their devotional emails.

« Previous Page