Happy Spring! The calendar shows that we’ve made it through another winter and are transitioning into a season of growth, life, new birth, and new beginnings. This past winter had its tough moments for sure! And those moments felt like unending months, at times.
Winter not only poses difficulties in the natural physical hindrances of cold, snow and icy conditions but it is also a difficult time for many in the emotional struggles of discouragement and depression, lack of fellowship, or being house-bound. The world lies in a state of barrenness which alone can be uninspiring and certainly demotivating.
As soon as the calendar is turned over to spring and the sun comes out, it seems to open up our minds to new dreams and ideas for the days to come. It is inspiring to spring clean and get our yards in tip top shape for barbequing and entertaining or spending time in our gardens or flower beds.
Spring may not come when we think it should but eventually it comes, and is the foreshadowing of summer... and then fall... and then winter once again. Just as we know spring will eventually come, God is always faithful. We don’t have to worry that the next season won’t arrive... eventually it will! Just as the seasons are constant, and even more so, God is constant.
His love, His mercy, His grace, and His forgiveness is constant. He has been with us through the dark days of winter just as He will walk through the joyous sun-filled days of spring. He is ever faithful. His character is completely trustworthy: he is unchanging, constant, stable and unwavering. He is utterly dependable. “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind” (Numbers 23:19).
In this present culture, it is so easy to be a skeptic, a doubter, a cheat, unfaithful, and unstable. Our flesh is constantly battling its right to be lazy, undependable, completely unreliable, and uncommitted. At times, it is even challenging to plan a family gathering or local event because people opt out last minute or don’t respond to the invitation in the first place. There is a serious lack of commitment because something ‘better’ might come along in the meantime.
On the converse, God’s nature is “...the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). If His nature is this way, rest assured, He wants us to become more like Him, taking on His ways and attributes. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is faithfulness. According to Greek scholar, Rick Renner, “the word ‘faith’ is the Greek word ‘pistis’ which is the common New Testament word for faith. It also conveys the idea of a person who is faithful, reliable, loyal and steadfast. It pictures a person who is devoted, trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, constant and unwavering.”
If God is truly operating in our life, we will see the fruits of faithfulness emerging. We can remain steady when circumstances become unsteady. We can remain loyal even when others have lost all forms of commitment. Our word will be our word; trustworthy, reliable and committed. Our homes, our workplaces, our communities and our nation will change for the good as each of us allow the fruit of faithfulness grow in our lives.
I’m thankful the seasons are constant. I’m even more thankful God remains steady and reliable for us to lean on Him in these challenging days we live. And let’s determine to cultivate the fruit of faithfulness in our lives.
Read Deuteronomy 7:9 and Proverbs 28:20.
