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God's Faithfulness to Us

Changes are inevitable at any age. In fact it has been said that "The only constant is change." I love change----after it is all over and I have adjusted. But until that happens, I often feel anxious, fearful, uncertain, confused, and even alone. It is easy to feel that no one has ever gone through anything like this before. My situation must be unique and different. Why is this happening to me, now?

Change that is not of my own choosing is even harder. Am I moving for retirement, selling the home that I have known and loved for so long? Has my employment ended, and time seems to be my enemy? Are the children moving to a distant city? Do I need to rely on others for things I once did with ease? Not easy for the proud and self-reliant.

The writer of Lamentations may have felt this way too. And in the midst of his fears he remembers the faithfulness of God.

Lamentations 2:21-24
 21   But here is something else I remember. And it gives me hope.
 22  The Lord loves us very much. So we haven't been completely

        destroyed. His loving concern never fails.
 23  His great love is new every morning. Lord, how faithful you are!
 24  I say to myself, "The Lord is everything I will ever need.
      So I will put my hope in him."

Notice that first he "remembers". Life can be so intense that we can forget the hope that comes from our faith in, and our faithfulness from God. Sometimes we even need to remind each other.

Second, he is flooded with the sense that God loves us, and never fails us. He sees God's faithfulness every morning. He has another day in the creation. And he expresses an acknowledgement of it to God.

Third, he makes his daily commitment to God: I say to myself, "The Lord is everything I will ever need, So I will put my hope in him."   Not a bad thing for each of us to do on a daily basis: R-A-C.

**Remember God

**Acknowledge His love and faithfulness to us.

**Commit to our faith and hope in our loving Father. 

Do you know the hymn below? Although I was raised in the Presbyterian Church, I only became familiar with it when I became acquainted with the wonderful congregation and pastor (Richard Halverson) of the  Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland in my late teens. Read carefully the first verse and refrain of this magnificent hymn. If you don't know the tune, find someone to play it for you so you can sing. If you can't find anyone to play it, email Bob at seniorark@aol.com, and I will send it to you. I sing it nearly every day. 

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GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

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.

Refrain: Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Repeat Refrain

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!

Repeat Refrain

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Prayer: Our God of steadfast love, we turn to you in our moments of dis-ease, fear, uncertainty, and in times of passage when the new, the unknown, threatens us with its uncertainty. Guide us with your great faithfulness, so that all we need to move on, will be ours. Gather us in, and wrap us in your everlasting care, so that as we make tentative steps into unknown territory, we will know your presence with us, and have nothing to fear. Amen.

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