Faith or Faithfulness?
Faith or Faithfulness?
“They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:23
There isn’t much in the book of Lamentations that will bring you joy and happiness, until the end. Sure there is hope and the redemption and forgiveness of God - but lament means to mourn - and there is nothing joyful there. However there is plenty of morning and sorrow in the book of Lamentations.
Jeremiah was writing, acrostically, about the destruction of Jerusalem, the capital of the Jews. In this Hebrew poetic writing style, Jeremiah shares the pain of Gods punishment for their sin. It is an amazing story of how sin caused destruction which brought about confession and a renewal of heart and mind which resulted in restoration. Each year this book was read aloud to remind all the Jews that their great city fell because of their stubborn sinfulness.
There is so much in these five chapters that anyone could relate to, especially and specifically, myself. We are the doer of disobedience which results in our punishment for which we must have faith that God will be just and loving. It’s a crazy, yet necessary cycle, in our Christianity.
So how does having faith differ from being faithful?
We can faithful in our financial giving, faithful to our church attendance and faithful in how we serve the Lord, but this does not give us great faith. Great faith does not come by being faithful. Faithfulness come from having faith.
It’s easy to say you have faith in God when everything is going well. Life is good. Faith is strong. Life is tough, faith becomes weak. Sometimes.
Jeremiah was reminded that faith was to be endured and tested in times of tribulation and that his faith was a measure of his trust in God to restore Jerusalem and its people. Just as God was faithful to punish for disobedience, he was faithful to return blessings to His people when they obeyed.
We have to learn to have great faith through our struggles. This is a learning process. It is not something that quickly appears during a season of pain and troubles. We have to learn to trust God through the reading of His word and within prayer. We can learn from conversations with fellow Christians about their struggles and the use of their faith and sometimes the lack of it as well.
There is a teaching and learning moment in every struggle and trial. People will remember how you handled a difficult situation more than they remember the situation. And trust me, they will remember when you handle it badly.
Being faithful to something does not bring about faith. Just because we commit to something doesn’t mean we believe in it. Things can become repetitive or autonomous - this won’t create faith. Faith is believing in or on something or someone because of your trust and sometimes even greater faith can occur without trust. Faith can increase when knowledge increases. Not because you did something over and over. Faith builds during learning. Faith increases during experience. Faith is care and love and willingness. And faith can be increased the more it is utilized.
Great faithfulness does not make great faith. Great faith results in great faithfulness.
We have to trust God and His love for us. We are His creation. We are His children. There is love from Him toward us and many of us experience this from His blessings. And there is also pain associated with punishment and disobedience.
A Christian’s true test of faith is when faith is utilized. We will only learn how much faith we have when we have to have it. It’s easy to sit back and relish in the amount of faith you have in God, on a good day. It’s those days when our faith is tested and resolved that we realize how important faith is. And faith is not, I repeat, is not - automatic.
The Bible is full of stories of people with great faith. Not because they were faithful but because God was faithful. Our faith should always be based on Gods goodness and faithfulness to us. Our faith is a result of His faithfulness. Not the other way around. God does not require us to be faithful - it is a result of His goodness. God does however require us to be obedient. And a lack of obedience can test our faith.
Faith can be tested. And faith can require endurance. It is not for us to decide when our trials should end. Complete faith requires complete trust. We must wholly and fully trust God, serve with obedience and submit to His will. We do this by learning and seeking His will for our lives. Most of what God expects from us is clearly provided for us in the Bible. Unfortunately, some of us don’t read the Bible and are quick to lose faith due to our disobedience and lack of understanding.
Our faith should be a direct reflection of our reverence to God. What better way to honor God but by showing how much faith we have that He will love, guide and protect us.
I believe God will use each and everyone of us - that allows us to be used by Him. It’s when we move outside of the will of God that we remove ourselves from serving Him.
So no matter how much you do, or how often you do it - it will not increase your faith. Your faith is built on complete trust in your Savior.
Teach yourself the importance of faith by reading the Word of God, understanding how to apply it to your life and by utilizing prayer to obtain wisdom.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
“And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
Hebrews 11:39-40
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2