Faithfulness

Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking about our relationship with God and how our faith in Him in our lives every day is so important. As human beings we are very fragile and when we find ourselves in difficult times, we can wonder where God is in our situations. Why isn't God just making our lives one endless joyous life, free from the troubles and obstacles that come our way?

We all know someone who is in pain, whether that be from health, mental or financial hardship or we may find ourselves experiencing these kind of problems whether now or in the future. The Israelites certainly felt this as slaves under Egyptian rule. They experienced hundreds of years as a slave race with no sign of how to gain their freedom. We too want freedom from the tyranny of the health fears and hardships we may be facing. Yet God heard the Israelites and He will hear and see you too. We sometimes fail to acknowledge that God hears our cries, but He sees everything. He sees your joy, your successes as well as your disappointments, anguish and pain. He is part of your life every day.

God freed the Israelites. He did not abandon them. He used His mighty power to part the seas and gave them safe passage to freedom. We can seem stuck in the midst of our situations with no way out. It is precisely in these times when we seem overwhelmed, that we need to turn to our Father. You are not alone. He is beside you, behind you and in front of you. He will give you the faith to continue, to know that you are not alone. Come to Him in faith and know that your situation is temporary. Ask God to make a path of freedom for you out of whatever obstacle you are facing. Put your faith in Him - the Father who loves you. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5 -7). He will guide you through it if you only let Him.

Time after time, God shows us that He loves us and is with us, yet we still cry out asking where God is. We see this when the Israelites during the Exodus, walk in the desert for forty years. The Israelites were in effect refugees roaming a hot, dusty desert, not sure how they were going to survive. Instead of having faith and living by faith that God would provide for them, they doubted, complained and cried out for food. Yet God continually provided for their every day needs and looked after them, even when the Israelites believed He had abandoned them. We may cry out and feel alone, yet we are not. God loves and cares about what happens to you. The Israelites doubted, but God provided sustenance for them both bodily and spiritually. The walk in the desert gave time for the Israelites to grow their faith. He was preparing them. The hurdles we often experience in our lives can seem to be never ending, but place your trust in God. As Oswald Chambers commented, "Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading". Submit to the Lord and see what God is preparing for you. The suffering and hardships that we encounter do serve a purpose. We may not see it at the time, but draw closer to God and know that you are not alone. Rather you are made by God, looked after by God and loved by God. "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)