Read Deuteronomy 7:9

“Great is thy faithfulness, Lord onto me!”

This is one of my all-time favorite hymns. Why? Because it reminds me of all the promises that God has been faithful to fulfill in my life and yours.

“Great is thy faithfulness Oh God my father”.

Promise #1 –  He promises to be our father and we are His children.  God is the father to the homeless and the hopeless. Those who society praises and those they shun.  But He isn’t just any father but a faithful father who will love us when we fail, and even when we aren’t so “lovable” To a young child who has to grow up without an earthly father, this is a priceless blessing on cold and lonely nights.

“There is no shadow of turning with thee!  Thou changes not, thy compassions they fail not; as thou has been, though forever will be!”

Promise #2 –  He doesn’t change.  And He will not change.  He doesn’t have rules for us one day and different ones on the next.   The promises He made to saints in the Bible, He makes also to us today. As He was with David when he faced Goliath, or Daniel in the lion’s den or Noah in the flood.  God is with us as we are flooded with anxiety,  facing gigantic obstacles in our lives, and angry people are ready to devour us.

“Summer and Winter, and Spring time and harvest, sun moon and stars in their courses above.  Join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.”

Promise #3 – Just as the sunshine comes after the rain and spring buds come after the snow, God will never fail.  The darkness in our lives will be followed by light if we will just hang in there with God.  No matter how bad today looks, there is always tomorrow. Only God knows what tomorrow might bring.  But whatever it is, we know God will be there to help us get through it. He has promised that “He will never leave us or forsake us!’ We can all count on that as being true.

“Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessing all mine with 10,000 besides.”

We all mess up. We fall way short of what we need to be. But God is always willing to forgive us and let us start each day fresh with a clean slate.

How can we ask for more? We have God’s presence with us in the good times and the bad, in the scary times and happy times. Like a good father holding the back of the bike seat as his child learns how to balance a 2-wheeler without training wheels, God is faithfully watching over us and, along with the saints in heaven, cheering us on to victory in this sometimes-crazy race called life!

Pat Arnold