“For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.” -Psalm 33:4
(This post is part of a series on the character of God, based on Exodus 34:6-7).
When Traci and I were newlyweds, we went on a lot roadtrip adventures all across the country. Thankfully, most of our trips were uneventful, but we did have some car trouble a couple of times. The worst of it was getting a flat tire on the interstate somewhere in New England. But God was good! A quick call to roadside assistance and a brief visit to a tire shop had us back on our way in short order.
In retrospect, we were fortunate. We had the right people show up at the right time to help us keep moving forward when we got stuck.
Who Do You Turn to When Life Happens?
Have you ever experienced something similar? Life doesn’t go the way you hoped and you’re forced to stop and re-evaluate. All of your carefully laid out plans go up in smoke when the unexpected happens. Maybe it’s a medical emergency, or an unexpected financial pinch, or a close friendship that suddenly became strained.
When life happens like that, who do you turn to? Who do you have in your life that you know you can count on, no matter what?
The Bible tells us that the Lord is a faithful God. This word faithful has to do with someone who has a reputation of being trustworthy. They are a rock-solid foundation to build on, because they say what they mean and they mean what they say. When they make promises, they follow through—guaranteed. People come to trust them because they have earned the right to be trusted over a long period of time.
We Can Count on God to be There When We Need Him.
God wants us to know that he will always be there for us. But God’s people don’t have a good track record of turning to him in their distress. In fact, sometimes God is the last thing on their minds in times of trouble!
When God spoke his name and revealed his character to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:6-7), it was right after the Israelites made a Golden Calf and worshipped it as if that idol had rescued them from their slavery in Egypt. That story of Israel worshipping their man-made idol is an example of what happens when God’s people no longer believe God will be there for them when disaster strikes.
Untamed Anxiety at Mt. Sinai
In Exodus 32, the people of God were worried. Moses had been up on Mt. Sinai for several weeks now, and there was no sign of him — or God. They knew that they still had a ways to go before reaching the Promised Land, but there wasn’t any tangible evidence that their God or their leader would be coming back any time soon.
The Israelites got impatient. Then their impatience turned to anxiety. They began to feel like they couldn’t and wouldn’t be OK without something tangible to worship. And in their anxiety, they went to Aaron and pressured him into making them an idol. Aaron couldn’t withstand the pressure and gave in to their demands. He made an idol, the people worshipped it, and then they threw a big feast in its honor.
At that point, the people’s anxiety melted away. The irony is that their situation didn’t actually improve, the Israelites just bought into a delusion that they were safer with an idol than without one. All they really did was create a false sense of security.
The one thing that really did change was God’s attitude towards his people. He was incensed that they would so quickly violate the covenant agreement they had just made with him.
God was ready to disown the Israelites and begin again with just Moses (who was innocent in the whole matter), but Moses intervened and persuaded God to relent. Shortly after that, God spoke his name on Mt. Sinai and revealed himself as a God who abounds in faithfulness. The lesson in this story is that God remains faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to him (see 2 Timothy 2:13).
Great is Thy Faithfulness
God is worthy of our trust. He tells us that abounds in faithfulness (which involves truth-telling, trustworthiness, reliability). He’s faithful because he tells the truth, follows through on his promises, and stays loyal to Israel even when they are disloyal to him.
All throughout the Bible, men and women of faith have had to decide if God really can be trusted enough tot take a leap of faith.
Abraham — Will God really be there for me if I leave my homeland?
Sarah — Will God really grant me a child in my old age?
Joshua — Will God really give us victory over our enemies in the Promised Land?
Ruth — Will the God of Israel provide for me if I leave Moab?
Daniel — Will God protect me from the lions if I stand up for the Lord?
Esther — Will God protect me from the King if I stand up for my people?
These men and women of the Bible took a leap of faith because they came to believe that God really was faithful—that they really could trust in God’s promises because of the his track record of following through. They came to the same conclusion that Joshua did near the end of his life:
“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” -Joshua 23:14
Trusting in the God Who Keeps his Promises
God has earned the right to be the center of our lives, and the person we turn to first when life happens. But we have to understand that we can’t follow Jesus without taking a leap of faith. So when the call of the Lord requires us to step out in faith in a way that goes against the conventional wisdom of the world, we’ll have to decide if we’re the kind of Christians who follow God only when it’s convenient, or the kind of Christians who will take that leap of faith even when it’s hard.
As you think about the stories of the Bible, and the way God has blessed your life and the lives of your loved ones, I hope you’ll consider all of the things God has ready done to prove to you that he is worthy of your trust. And I hope that will give you the confidence you need to take that leap of faith.