God’s Faithfulness and Ours

By Brian Mitchell

 

    Brothers, sisters and friends, God’s faithfulness is something that we can celebrate. We live in a literal sewer of unfaithfulness, at times in the church, and certainly in wider Christiandom. It sometimes seems like there is so little that we can trust in anymore. Parents don’t really trust their children, and children don’t trust their parents. There is a distrust among husbands and wives. Politicians make all kinds of promises and follow through on few of them. Companies are far less faithful than they used to be to their employees and the communities they come from.

    I like the story of the college student who walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated and this involved removing it from the frame. In doing this, the studio owner noticed the inscription on the back of the photograph: "My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity." It was signed "Diane," and it contained a P.S.: "If we ever break up, I want this picture back."

    In contrast to all this unfaithfulness and distrust is our God who is so faithful. It is this reality that I want us to celebrate and embrace over the next 3 MONTHS worth of sermons. This is not a truth to be heard and forgotten, but one that we need to be reminded of constantly. Why? Because we live in a world where trust is hard to come by, where it may seem that there are few people to trust. But our God is a faithful God. We can trust him. You don’t have to doubt and in fact you should not.

    I want to tell you, on a personal level, that I don’t believe that God has ever let me down—even though I have acted before as though He did. But the truth is that I cannot think of a time when God has not been there for me. He has always given me exactly what I needed, when I needed it. Whether it was provision or correction or instruction, I have always been able to count on God.

    I can especially see his hand as He has carried me through my almost 23 years of full-time ministry. He has been by my side, day in and day out. There have certainly been high points and low points, successes and failures, but either way, God has been faithful.

- Brian Mitchell serves as a minister with the Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson, MO. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at https://www.jacksonchurchofchrist.net