As I was driving to work one day I reflected on the time before the first Christmas. Mankind had shown God nothing but faithlessness, continuing to rebel against God and doing the things he warned them not to do. We see examples of this in the beginning when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and when people of Israel, who were supposed to be God’s chosen people, constantly worshiped other gods. Before that first Christmas we were lost in our sin and our situation was hopeless. When Jesus was born hope was restored to the world. I picture the blackest night imaginable and a sudden blinding light blazing forth in the midst of the darkness. We were drowning in a sea of darkness and despair, but Jesus came to rescue us from our sinfulness. His faithfulness redeems our faithlessness.
In spite of our faithlessness to God he has never once wavered in his faithfulness to us. In Deuteronomy 7:9 Moses writes, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,” Even when the people of Israel chose other gods to serve instead of the one true God, he never abandoned them. God would have been justified if he had abandoned humanity completely, but instead while we were still sinners Jesus died for us. For a holy and righteous God to become man and die for sinful man is an incredible testament to his love for us. It showcases His faithfulness despite our faithlessness.
In my own life God has been so faithful to me. I want to share a difficult time in my life where God was faithful to me despite my faithlessness. I was in my twenties and what I wanted more than anything was to find a woman who loved me. This appeared to be an impossible dream on the surface because I was so shy and awkward around women that it seemed impossible that one could ever be interested in me. There were so many nights where I cried out to God in despair and anguish. You know what he spoke to me in return? Nothing. There was silence. I thought maybe be doesn’t care about this area of my life. Maybe it doesn’t matter to him if I find happiness. In the midst of this time where loneliness covered my life like a black shroud God was still faithful to me. He taught me many lessons during my twenties that helped me became ready for the day I not only found a girlfriend but found my future wife. I realized then that in those nights when I was crying out to God, even though he was silent he heard me. Even though he was silent he had a plan. I want to encourage anyone who has been crying out to God about a certain area of your life not to give up. I want to testify that even when God is silent He still hears you, and just because He’s silent doesn’t mean He’s not working things together for your good!
Every day God shows incredible faithfulness to us so how are we going to respond? If we’ve accepted him as our savior we can’t keep living our faithless lives the same as before. We need to mirror God’s faithfulness to others in our lives. God has shown us incredible faithfulness, now it is our job to show that same faithfulness back to Him. We’ve often heard it said tis the season to be merry. Let us also add tis the season to be faithful because that first Christmas Jesus showed just how faithful he was by humbling himself to be become a man, Immanuel, God with us. I also want to add strongly this does not mean we should only to remember to be faithful around Christmas or for a mere season. In the Alister Sim version of A Christmas Carol, the ghost of Christmas present said to Scrooge that Jesus didn’t come to live in men’s hearts for just one day but all 365. We must live with the faithfulness of God in our hearts all year, not just for a season! We must show the world the faithfulness of God, the faithfulness it lacks but longs for. I pray you all join me in my resolve to do everything I can to reflect the faithfulness of God to everyone around me.