My mother’s favorite hymn is “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” by Thomas O. Chisholm. We love to sing it together. The words in the first verse are incredibly powerful:
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
There is such comfort in knowing that God kept us yesterday, He is keeping us today, and He always will. My mom especially loves the last verse of the song:
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,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.
Some things are so constant about God’s faithfulness that we almost forget about them. We remember and are grateful for the forgiveness for our sins. But what about the peace He gives, the strength for every day, the hope for tomorrow, and His wonderful presence with us so that we are never alone? At times we take these things for granted.
God is so faithful, but sometimes we forget the fact that we are blessed and instead think, “Oh cool! Everything is working out great for me.” But it’s not that life is smiling at us and we are managing to cope so well with all that comes our way. The truth is that God is smiling at us, caring for us, and grasping our hand to pull us through the tests and trials that would otherwise defeat us.
We cannot truly fathom or repay the faithfulness the Lord shows us. In fact, we often are forgetful, unfaithful, and dismissive of His constant merciful presence. But the Bible says, “If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful. Christ cannot deny who he is” (2 Timothy 2:13 CEV). We don’t deserve it, but He has chosen to love us and He always will. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus never changes.
Let’s stop for a minute today and take a look around us at the beauty in nature, our friends and loved ones, our triumphs and successes, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifested in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). God’s faithfulness towards us truly is great.