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OUR FAITHFUL GOD
This time around, I would like to dwell on a topic which is very close to my heart,
which is ‘OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL’, having experienced this truth myself first hand in the
two and half years of my full time work. The diligent workers in His vineyard with relatively
greater experience would also echo similar sentiments.
Oh, how many doubts & apprehensions, anxieties & concerns filled my & my wife’s mind,
when we decided to take that ‘leap of faith’ when the good Lord called us! But two
and half years year down the line, both of us can testify from rooftops nay mountaintops
that our God is faithful.
Oh yeah, firstly the Dictionary meaning of the word ‘faithful’, well, it is all about not
letting down the confidence reposed by others in you. After all, every Christian
worker worth his salt, steps into His work assured that God would take car of His needs.
Before even treading a step on this topic, I would like all of us to ask ourselves this question?
Is He faithful at all times? Yes, given His fair disposition, the logical answer ought to be is
‘when we are faithful’! Which Firm or organization, we work with for our livelihood would pay us,
unless we do our part? The answer to this question to most would seem obvious, isn’t it?
But the amazing thing dear friends is our loving God is faithful to us sometimes, when even
we are not faithful to Him!!! Let us see 2 examples of His faithfulness in the Bible. Firstly,
His faithfulness to His faithful saints, who were asked to do something extra-ordinary.
Yes, sometimes, our faithfulness is put to test by Him, when He asks to venture out to
do ‘something’, which we have never done before. My own experience of entering full-time work,
for instance. This ‘something’ may be sometimes a relatively easy task (as that of Philip)
of firstly waiting by the road side for the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch to come that way
(Acts 8:26) &
then sharing the gospel with him or an arduous task of building a gigantic ark, as the one Noah was asked to build.
In both the cases, all the good Lord wants is our faithfulness in going about the same.
Implicitly both Philip & Noah went about their works faithfully. The result? Besides the
immediate benefit, which accrued to both of them…the joy of being faithful
(to which every Christian would testify), their names are even today not so much inked as engraved in the Hall
of fame of the faithful (In the Heavenly book of Hebrews 11th chapter).
For those, who are often caught gasping
for breath going about His tasks faithfully like an exhausted marathon runner in the last leg of his race,
the amazing Noah story may be just what the doctor would order for them to get back their focus on their jobs.
This story, which is the very definition of faithfulness of a humble saint to his Creator,
not only fascinates me but also sometimes takes my breath away, especially when you look at it from Noah’s
perspective.
He was asked to build a huge ark with no apparent prior experience of undertaking such energy-sapping projects at
a time when the weather was pretty normal though the moral climate of that age was anything but normal! Well,
with the ‘Flood’ story being quite familiar to most of us
(Genesis chapters 6,7,8&9), I do not want to repeat it
in great detail but, I would just like to place the comforting (often repeated) scripture portion in the
aftermath of that great flood ‘ God did not forget about Noah…’
(Genesis 8:1) besides an oft-neglected one
recorded describing Noah’s faithfulness, long before the flood came in
Genesis 6:22 ‘ And Noah did everything
as God commanded him’. As this ‘everything’ needless to say, was not an easy task, by any stretch of imagination,
it begs a question, by whose empowerment?
Before dwelling on his physical labor, firstly, however, let us focus on the time & energy, Noah must have
spent in making his family members believe that a big flood was really on the way because without their
co-operation, he would not make any headway in this huge project. Getting them motivated & involved in
this gargantuan exercise must have been an onerous task in itself especially as the weather was perfectly normal
to start with. Then of course, the physical toil, the felling of many trees, hammering of countless nails,
putting of every nut & bolt in place in perfect conformity with the God’s blue print, shepherding all the
animals into the ark in pairs & then stocking food for his fellow earthlings. Boy, my head tends to swim;
when I contemplate the magnitude of Noah’s task & the demands it placed on him. He must have aged considerably,
in the process, his face spotting wrinkles & his hair revealing increasing number of gray strands which may have
been conspicuous by their absence before this ‘ project work fell on his shoulders’. Now, should we believe the
bluff that Noah did all this, without ever having any moments of discouragement, with an ideal ‘ smiley’ look about
him at all times, without ever feeling the strain of lack of resources? Surely, at times, he may have felt
inadequate for task such as this but must have drawn strength from his oh-so-faithful God, who was ever willing
to stand by his side, especially during his ‘low’ moments. Now coming to main point, does not it now logically
follow that ‘God remembered Noah not only after the Flood (Divine Judgment) but at all times, when He was preparing
for it’?
The fruit of Noah’s enterprise? Well, today, whole mankind owes its new lease of life to this one diligent,
faithful soul, to whom God was faithful before & after the flood
(Genesis 8:1).
Well, Christians also labor, before, yet another imminent Divine Judgment (our Lord’s second coming).
Do not we also not endure the taunts of the scorning world as regards the Lord’s second coming
(2 peter 3:1-5)? Do we also not feel ill equipped to face the problems the world throws at us?
Do we also not feel weak whilst measuring up to God’s expected moral standards? Is He not with us faithfully,
like He was with Noah giving us the needed spiritual strength in this preparation process?
Also for those of us who do not observe any perceptible earthly rewards in the toils of some of His faithful
ones (what with some of them enduring persecutions & even meeting a gory end) & are hence compelled to
cynically ask with some justification ‘what price, faithfulness’? Well, for an answer to this poser,
I would like my readers to turn to
Heb 11:36-40, wherein speaking about the fiery trials of His faithful
ones Bible says in verse 40…. God wanted them to wait & share the ‘even better rewards’. So what are these
better rewards? Please turn, if you will, to this comforting, reassuring verse in His word, which
reads thus: ….no mere man has ever seen, heard or even imagined what wonderful things God
has ready for those who love Him’
(1 Corinthians2: 9). The best, dear friends,
for any Christian is YET TO COME!
His earthly manifestation of care or rewards about which His workers like me may testify
(which others can also practically observe) now is only a foretaste of
the greater & more fulfilling rewards to follow, which are guaranteed even if
sometimes ‘tangible appetizers’ may not be physically seen or may seem withdrawn in the case
if his other faithful ones. However, the intangible joyous appetizer in the form of indwelling
Holy Ghost is always within all his faithful ones, ensuring a radiant countenance at all times
irrespective of outward circumstances. Oh yes, even now that same God remembers & equips his faithful
ones as they prepare for yet another impending Divine judgment better known as second coming.
Now to get all the waiting heavenly rewards in toto…we need to go back to the original question,
I had posed. Are we faithful to him as some of His faithful ones through their inspiring lives
time & again demonstrate? If we belong to that category, nothing quite like it as nothing can substitute
the joy of knowing all is well between Him & us!
Now coming to the other side of the coin. What when we fall now & then & grieve His spirit?
What when fruit of the spirit in the form of good deeds is not seen in us…at least temporarily?
Would He turn His back to us forever, forgetting what all we have done for Him, so far? The wonderful
example of a restored Peter after his great fall
(John 18:27) & his subsequent glorious ministry
as recorded in the Book of Acts should cheer us up. Our Lord did not discard all his zealous works
for Him in the years gone by nor did He judge him, by his one fall, however big, it may have been.
Then what about king David? One sin & he was done for…is it? NO, FAR FROM IT! The rise, fall,
rise story of David also echoes the same lesson, that God does not summarily discard & forget
all our previous works of faithfulness to Him. From my own experience of walking with Him for
more than 2 decades as of now, I can testify that we may slip many a time, in our attempts to
walk faithfully with Him, but He would always encourage us with an extended helping hand to
bounce back…’FOR HE CANNOT DISOWN US WHO ARE A PART OF HIM SELF…’
(2 Timothy 2:13). So our
‘faithfulness’ in a way is also an offshoot of His faithfulness to us, much like the way our
love for Him is
(1 John4: 19). Please do not misconstrue this as license to fall umpteen number
of times but rather perceive this as a small measure of His bountiful grace borne out of a
heart overflowing with love, which we should hate to grieve. So dear friends, if your life
is marked by consistency, then clasp His strong hands firmly & continue to
walk with Him ‘faithfully’ or on the other hand, if it is marked by frequent trips to
forbidden worlds resulting in you now being in a fallen state, then get up & put your hand
in His & walk again faithfully.
WORSE THAN LETTING DOWN YOUR FAITHFUL GOD IS PREFERRING TO STAY DOWN IN A FALLEN CONDITION…
So like Peter and David before him, bounce back…faithfully.
Yours in His service,
(Suresh Manoharan)
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