Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.–1Cor. 4:2
But the Lord is faithful….2 Thess. 3:3; ‘He is faithful that promised. –Heb. 10:23

 

God is faithful, and He expects His people to be faithful. God’s faithfulness does not excuse us from our obligation, for ”it is required” of us that we be faithful. God’s Word speaks of faithful servants, faithful in a few things, faithful in the least, faithful in the Lord, faithful ministers. And all points up to that day when He will say, ”Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

In John we read that many believed on Jesus when they saw His miracles but that He did not believe in them. We have a song, ”Can the Lord Depend on You?” It ought to be sung more often. John wrote to Gaius, ”Thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest. . . ” Gaius was not fitful or flashy, he was faithful. It has been said that the greatest ability is dependability. There is not much preaching on old-fashioned faithfulness. Perhaps one reason is that faithfulness is not very glamorous. If a wife murders her husband, that gets into all the papers. But there are thousands of faithful wives and mothers who never get the spotlight, who grace their homes with loving service, whose husbands and children rise up to call them blessed.

What a terrible time we have in our churches trying to keep people faithful in attendance and loyalty! How we reward and picnic and coax and tantalize church members into doing things they don’t want to do but which they would do if they loved God! The only service that counts is faithful service that issues from love of Christ. The choir singer who does not sing from the heart should get right or get out. True faith shows up in faithfulness.

The work of the pastor is frowned upon in many quarters because it calls for faithfulness in a daily grind of unromantic, colorless duties, and some try to side-step that by moving into more exciting activities.

Christian living calls for faithfulness. Not everyone can sing or preach, but all can be faithful. Maybe that is what takes the glamour out of it—anybody can do it! Anyway, there isn’t much of it. Too many saints go up like rockets and come down like rocks. They prefer to be flashy comets instead of faithful stars. But God prefers those who faithfully let their light shine to those who fitfully show it. It is better not to shine so dazzlingly at one time but rather to shine daily, all the time.

This is the Age of Goofus, of trickery, hocus-pocus, freaks, sleight-of-hand, ”now-you-see-it-and-now-you-don’t.” Everything is done with mirrors. Everything is measured by ”How big?” and ”How loud?” Everything must be huge, gigantic, colossal, super-duper. Even the new drugs are ”wonder drugs” — you take them and wonder what will happen next. In such a time it is hard to interest people in plain old obedience and faithfulness. Even Christians must be entertained at church. The Light of Truth is looked at but not walked in, and, being hearers but nor doers, men are blinded by excess of light. Too much light will blind as surely as not enough light.

God’s Word has much to say about being steadfast, grounded, settled, built on a rock, not carried about every wind of doctrine. We are not to be weary in well-doing. We ought to be able to say, ”My heart is fixed.” Of course, some saints are permanent fixtures, but our permanence should be the living permanence of a tree, not the dead stability of a tombstone. Too many restless Christians today move from church to church, preacher to preacher, always wanting to be right but never getting right with God, ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Some are always laying foundations but never building thereon. Others are ”hypodermic saints,” living on shots of religious excitement instead of growing normally by food, rest and exercise. Unless some stabilization is mixed with our salvation, we are going to have a generation of popcorn Christians, popping all over the place.

It is required of stewards that they be found faithful not fitful. And we are to be faithful over a few things. The preacher who will not preach his heart out before a few people would be no good before a multitude. There are too many eagles on hummingbird nests, too big for their present location and seeking great things for themselves, as did Baruch of old.

This unfaithfulness shows up at church. Too many saints have no local loyalty. They will support a radio preacher at a distance, which is well enough in its place, but will not help a man of God in their own community. He may not be brilliant or well-known, but God did not call him to be that; God called him to be faithful, and if he is faithful we ought to be faithful to him. Away with that view of the invisible church that makes a man invisible at church on Sunday!

Such unfaithfulness shows up at home. It is forcefully enjoined upon bishops and deacons that they be faithful at home; and it is expected of the rest of us. It avails nothing to look pious at the Lord’s table on Sunday if we show no grace at the breakfast table through the week. It is not well in many Christian homes today with husband, wife or child. There needs to be fresh affirmation of Joshua’s resolve: ”As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (By Vance Havner)

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”–2 Corinthians 12:9

God’s promises provide hope and hope produces help. We see an example of this in the following story told by Dr. Paul Chappell:

On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick began the twenty-one mile swim across the Catalina Channel. The water was ice-cold, and a dense fog shrouded her view of the support boats surrounding her. Several times, her support crew drove approaching sharks away with rifle fire.

For almost sixteen hours, Florence swam on. In complete exhaustion she finally quit—one-half mile from her goal. She later told reporters, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it.”

It wasn’t the cold, sharks, or weariness that stopped Florence short of her goal—it was the fog. Many times we too, fail to reach spiritual goals because we simply lose hope when sorrows enter our lives. We feel overwhelmed in their icy cold waves, and we fail to remember that God has promised to sustain us through these difficulties.

Many of our sorrows are actually advanced by Satan in an attempt to cause us to lose hope. The dedicated Christian is a prize target for Satan’s arrows of sorrow. Second Corinthians 12:7 explains that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was sent by Satan: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

But even sorrows that are advanced by Satan must first be allowed by God. Every fiery trial that comes our way is “Father-filtered.” We see in Job’s life that God drew limits on the suffering He allowed Satan to bring: “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand….And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life” (Job 1:12, 2:6).

For every sorrow God allows to come our way, He provides sufficient grace and strength to withstand these attacks. Paul expressed how God faithfully sustained him: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8–10).

Notice that Paul accessed God’s grace through prayer—he “besought the Lord.” The word besought means to “call for or to call to one’s side.” If we, too, would access God’s sustaining grace, we must heed the admonition of Philippians 4:6–7: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Hope is found in bringing your sorrows to the Lord who “upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down” (Psalm 145:14).

Two months after Florence’s unsuccessful swim, she again attempted to cross the Catalina Channel. The water was just as cold, and the fog was just as dense as on her previous attempt. But this time, in less than fourteen hours, she made it, breaking the current world record by more than two hours. What was the difference? Even though Florence couldn’t see the shore, she kept the goal clearly pictured in her mind. Her trust in the fact that, though the shore was not visible, it was still present, pierced the fog and carried her to victory.

During times of sorrow, hope is not found in a change of circumstances, but in the unchanging, solid promises of God, which provide sustaining grace and strength.

….I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 Corinthians 6:17-18

The Bible depicts our relationship with God in a number of ways, but none is so endearing as the “Father-child” relationship. What could be more precious than to pictured as a child of “the Lord Almighty”? It was with this in mind that James Smith penned these wonderful words:

Tried Christian, you are not an orphan! You have a Father! God, in all the glory of His nature and perfections, is your Father! He has adopted you for his own. He has regenerated you by his Spirit. He has called you out of the world, and has promised to do a father’s part unto you. He says, “I will be a Father unto you!”

Do you need advice? Consult your Father.

Do you need supplies? Ask them of your Father.

Are you tormented with cares? Cast them on your Father.

Are you alarmed at foes? Cry unto your Father.

Do your difficulties appear insurmountable? Appeal to your Father.

We should . . .
exercise confidence in His love;
trust in His Word;
appeal to His paternal heart;
look for our supplies from His hand.

He loves to see His children . . .
confide in His care,
rely on His word,
expect His communications,
and acquiesce in His will.

Believer,
whatever trials may befall you,
whatever troubles may come upon you,
whatever enemies may rise up against you,
whatever changes may take place in your circumstances,
one thing can never befall you–you can never be fatherless; therefore you can never be friendless. You are God’s child, however poor your circumstances, or trying your path.

What an unspeakable mercy!

Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.–1 Corinthians 10:10

Have you ever noticed that those who complain the most about life being unfair are usually the worst offenders. They are easily offended by the injustice of others toward them, but they fret not about their injustices toward others. It’s like the pot calling the kettle black.

I suspect their own guilty conscious has something to do with this. They know they are guilty and they know that others know, so in an effort to get the spotlight off of them they turn it on others. They don’t have enough sense to know that you can’t make yourself look good by making others look bad. I’ve known several preachers who always harped about some particular sin, regardless of the theme of their sermon. They couldn’t get through a message about anything without making mention of their disdain  for that sin—until it was finally discovered that they themselves were guilty of it.

Finding fault seems to be the favorite pastime of a lot of folks. They are always in an uproar about something. In their mind nothing is ever right unless it’s exactly the way they want it to be. They move from one church to another and never settle down unless they get in a position of authority where they can run the show or find a church where the pastor is so cowardly that he caves in to their demands. These are trouble makers of the worst sort–a snake in the grass, wolves in sheep’s clothing. They go through life taking advantage of others, creating strife, leaving people disappointed and bitter.

Before we blame others it would do us all good to think about our own faults and failures. Even when we have been subjected to some injustice it is often better to suffer through it than to make an issue out of it. No, life isn’t always fair, but we are as much to blame as anybody else. Today you were mistreated. Yesterday you mistreated someone. If you’re going to make an issue of something let it be with your sin rather than that of the other party. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for going to law against one another and then he asked this question, ” Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?”(1 Cor. 6:7). It is not our place to try to correct every injustice. For the sake keeping peace we sometimes must suffer loss. It might be difficult but in the end it will pay great dividends–God always rewards obedience. And vengeance belongs to Him. Wrong doers will reap what they sow. Those who lie and cheat will be chastised  by the Lord—just leave the matter in His hands and move on.

...all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.–Hebrews 4:13
This is a fact that we should keep before us every moment. Doing so will greatly influence the way we live. Coach Joe Gibbs deals with this in his devotional “Game plan for Life”:

It used to just be celebrities who had to live with the possibility that someone could be filming or taking pictures of them at any moment. But today, we’re all fairly accustomed to knowing that a camera is likely trained on us at every store entrance, every ATM machine, perhaps even when we’re trying to decide whether to run through a yellow light or not.

We’re a watched society—which can be troubling when we imagine how far some people could take these surveillance capabilities. But be that as it may, there’s an element of this that keeps us accountable. It keeps us honest, keeps us careful of our actions. In fact, it’s sort of a reminder that God’s cameras are always rolling—that he sees it all, even when no one else is looking. “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.” (Proverbs 5:21).

We may not always be happy about that. There are parts of our average day that we’d just as soon keep private. But the fact that he’s watching is true just the same. Our job is to live in such a way that this knowledge is more comforting than convicting—to be glad that he “sees what is done in secret” (Matthew 6:6), to know that our desire is to please him and stay in close fellowship with him every minute of the day.

Pray this prayer: Help me remember, Lord, that my life is an open book before you. Let this knowledge both change and challenge me. I want to be your kind of man all the time.