Living Beyond Yourself

I have to be very honest with you... I started writing this post on Friday. Saturday morning, I changed my mind, and started re-writing it. Then, the interruptions of the day and evening kept leaping before me, and before I knew it ... it was Sunday afternoon. And once again, I sat down to complete my post, re-read what I had typed, and deleted everything, only to start again.

Why?

Because this weeks LBY lesson was on Faithfulness. And this weekend, I have seen a first hand example of faithfulness, both God's, and ours... and I have been unable to put my words and thoughts into writings that are clear and concise. Or, better yet ... understandable. And, still ... I'm not sure I've accomplished that!

We all have faith in something, and my hope ... nay, my prayer ... is that you have faith in God ... that you believe in the One that is so great and so powerful, even though He can not be "proven," "seen," or "touched." Even though He is not "tangible." After all, we don't see air, sound, or concepts, yet we have faith that they exist.

But Faithfulness -- that carries a few different ideas along with it. In this week's study, Beth Moore pointed out that in the Old Testament, faithfulness describing God was used with Hebrew words ... Aman and its derivative, Emunah. They carry the ideas of firmness, steadiness, sureness, steadfastness, faithfulness, trust, honesty, safety, and certainty. And ... when we apply this to God, the faithfulness of God is His believability. So, when we apply faithfulness to us, a believer in God, it means our belief in God's believability... resting in His certainty, being persuaded by His honesty, trusting His reality, being won over by His veracity, being sure that He's sure, and believing He's worth believing.

God is certain. He is enduring. He is true.

Now, I know many of these words are not my own. They are Beth's. But I couldn't have said it any better. And the reason why I kept starting over and over and over again is because of the place that my friend Momrn2 has found herself in. And as a mother, my heart goes out to her and her husband. I can only imagine the rollercoaster of emotions she has been on this past week.

But friends ... God has shown his faithfulness in their lives. HE HAS. And the outpouring of love, prayers and concern that she has received since Thursday has simply blown me away. Her little girl's life was hanging on by a precious, but thin thread. And God reached down, and proved, yet again, that he is faithful. He has shown his firmness, steadiness, sureness, steadfastness, faithfulness, trust, honesty, safety, and certainty in such a clear and divine way, that it can not be denied.

You see, sometimes, our faith takes us to places we don't want to be. Places that are to big for us to deal with on our own. And that's when we have to believe that God CAN, whether he DOES or DOESN'T. God may not choose to answer our prayers as he did this time for Momrn2. And, yes, that is disheartening and discouraging. But the fact still remains -- even when we are faith-less ... He still remains faithful, because that is what He is. And that's when our Faith is based wholly on WHO GOD IS, rather than what he does.

2 Timothy 2:13 says that "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself." It would be a denial of God's very own nature for Him to be anything other than perfectly faithful. Praise God for that, because I can't imagine a life with a God who is less than faithful!!

On behalf of my friend, who has seen God's very hand this weekend, I thank you for your faithfulness to her through your prayers and words of comfort. Even though you may not have even known her before this weekend. The community we have formed is priceless, and I am moved beyond words.

Thank you. And praise God for His faithfulness.