The Faithful One

1 Thessalonians 5:24 says "the one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." I have been so awestruck by this scripture that I wanted to share with you my thoughts and a part of my heart. I wanted to talk with you about The Faithful One! First of all, I want you to know that this Faithful One is none other than the Lord himself. I know that so often in my life I have been overwhelmed by a circumstance or a heartache and was not sure what to do. I do know that there is no greater answer than the fact that He is Faithful.

I've been watching lately as so many of my friends, ministry partners, and co-workers are struggling in so many circumstances. I am watching in amazement at how each of them are handling their situations. I can see how there are those who are walking in the confidence of the Lord and knowing He will pull them through it. I am watching and see how there are some who want to know He is there and yet can't seem to see His hand moving at all. There are those who are watching in amazement as God's hand is over everything they are doing and they can see it so evidently moving. Yet there are still those who are just choosing not to see that some of the responses to their calling upon the Lord have been answers they didn't want. How my heart goes out to each of these.

As I think of Paul and the circumstances he faced in his life in the scriptures, I am just overwhelmed to think of all he went through. He was in more "stuff" than I could have ever imagined. I mean this guy was following God. He was doing things that God told him to do. Shouldn't his life have been more abundant and full of the good things? Well, in our thinking from society today, we would tend to think that. Paul was imprisoned, flogged severely, exposed to death again & again, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked 3 times (personally, I would have tried to stop after the 1st time or possibly the 2nd from that and avoided the boats all together - I mean, why would I want to end up like Gilligan on a strange island?), he's been constantly on the go, he faced dangers on every hand from bandits, rivers, Gentiles; danger in the cities, country, at sea, and false brothers; he's labored and gone without sleep, he's known hunger & thirst, and been cold and naked, and lets not forget his own thorn in the flesh! Yet, what did Paul do? He said that he took delight in all of these things because he knew that in his weakness, God would make him strong.

Now I don't know about you, but I personally would prefer to live a life without so many of those issues - yet our lives are not without problems, trials, issues, or chaos in the circumstances sometimes. When we get to these situations in our lives, we have to press on. When we think we can't go further, we have to take that one more step - and the one who called you to that place and that time, will be faithful to help us do it. I am praying for you and your situation today and will continue to lift you before the Faithful One. I will close with this verse from Colossians 2: 6.."just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness". Find a way to day to press on one more step - doing it with thankfulness, knowing that you will find in that next step - the Faithful One.

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