2013: Great Is Thy Faithfulness

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!“

 Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

~Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Thomas Obediah Chisholm (1856-1960)

                               

2013 is about over.  What was your year like? What are you thankful for? How did God reveal His lovingkindness, grace, and goodness to you?

Often when we sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" at church, I think about how God is not only faithful in giving me what I need for every day life (and I don't deserve even that), but also those things that I need as He deems fit as He conforms me to the image of Christ Jesus His Son.

God's Sovereign hand rules and brings into our lives not only what we see as the "good" things (and yes they are good), but also the hardships and trials (the things we humanly might consider "bad").

Jas 1:2  Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

1Pe 1:6  In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7  so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 

Rom 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 

All I have needed and all that I will need, is for God to conform me to the image of His dear Son for His glory. That is what I NEED. It may in the immediate moment of difficulty, hurt, but it's what I need as directed by my loving and patient and gracious triune God.

And all that He deems best that we go through, we go through while in His sovereign and loving and all-powerful hand, indwelled by the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him to "will and to do His good pleasure".

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

Eph 2:10  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 

Php 2:12  So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 

So going back to my earlier questions, I hope we who are in Christ, say with confidence, that even the hard things we faced this past year were, in the hands of our Sovereign King, good and needful. May we face the future of this coming year with the same heart, ever trusting in Him who rules the world, as He rules our lives, and may we experience His grace, mercy, and patience through the Holy Spirit's work in our lives as we bend our heads to His will.

This life is but a moment, but life with God is eternal.