Faithful Love

The hymn, ‘Hark, my soul, it is the Lord’ by William Cowper has held a special place in my heart from my childhood, and it was no surprise that when I started writing this message, I was drawn to the third and fourth verses, which goes like this:

³ Can a woman’s tender care, cease towards the child she bare? Yes, she may forgetful be, yet will I remember thee.

⁴ Mine is an unchanging love, higher than the heights above, deeper than the depths beneath, free and faithful, strong as death.

Indeed the love God has for His children is a love that we cannot compare to any other. Mothers have an exceptional type of love for their children such that they can love them no matter what they do. A mother’s love can be stretched to all limits and levels, and yet still, she will have enough love for her child. But as human as mothers are, they can only love to the best of their abilities, and subsequently, there are times that a mother’s love for her child seem to fall short. Cersei in Game of Thrones demonstrated this precisely for us. She was a mother willing to go to every extent for her children, but there came a time when she was out of her depth, and her love couldn’t save her children.  But God’s faithful love knows no bounds; it’s simply from everlasting to everlasting. He demonstrated his faithful love in all His relationships with creation throughout the generations in the Bible.

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)

After the fall of man, God saw the wickedness of man, and the Bible says in Genesis chapter 6 verse 6  that God was sorry that He had made humanity, and He grieved in His heart. Noah found grace in the eyes of God, and so despite the evil all over the earth, God instructed Noah to build an ark to save humanity. After the flood, God went into a covenant with creation in Genesis 9, and that was when creation came face to face with the faithful love of God. His faithfulness to His word has been unshakeable no matter what His creation does. There were several instances in the Bible where God could have relented His covenant with creation, but He kept His word. Only God can love like this.

Noah was asked to build a big ark in a season when there was no need to. His relationship with God had grown so deep, and so in the midst of critics and the ridicules, he stuck to his guts and obeyed God. His relationship with God had revealed to him that God is faithful, and He always comes through with His word. Regrettably, man hasn’t been all that faithful over the years, but God’s faithfulness has proven consistent and sure. Can I trust God to be faithfully loving enough not to let me endure ridicules just so the enemy puts me down but instead trust that He has a bigger plan for me? This will require a bit of tenacity and strength that can only come from Him.

God met Abram and changed his name, and set him apart to be the father of many nations. At a very ripe age, Abraham and his wife Sarah were promised a son and descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. They had never heard it done before, and when they first heard it, they reacted just like anyone else would, with total disbelief in the word. The Bible said they both laughed at the thought of it; they couldn’t bring themselves to grasp how that conception could even materialise.  In Abraham’s finite mind, this was an impossible promise, but he was yet to know the infinite God who could turn the impossible into possible and who can do all things He says He will do.

The Lord will work out his plans for my life, for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Psalm 138:8 (NLT)

I remembered a few years ago, when I was ready to undertake my Master’s degree, I had a strong feeling it will cost me nothing. It felt unreal at that time, as a Master’s degree cost a fortune. But we prayed into it and felt more determined that was the path God had laid for me. After I submitted my application, a university tutor called me out of the blue one day and informed me of a change I needed to make on the application to ensure I can get the full scholarship. He had never met me, and he didn’t know me, but this is what God does. God being faithful to His promise, I was offered a scholarship to fully cover my tuition fees plus a bursary for my living costs. Our faith was deeply strengthened, and we knew God was going to see me through that education and as faithful as He is, He did. There were times when things proved challenging and impossible, but God always stepped in one way or the other to see me through. In that season of my life, I learned that it’s OK to have unbelief and worry and distrust. God is loving, and He will not cast you out for not having enough faith for the impossible. He rather wants you to come to Him with the impossible situation so He can enlighten you. He never desires for us to stay in the dark and the unknown, especially when He expects us to trust Him in an impossible situation. By spending time with Him about an issue, it takes the burden of fulfilment off your shoulders, and you see Him actually showing you the way through the situation. There have been several instances in my life when I have faced an overwhelming situation, and as we all know too well, the more you think through these things, the worse it gets. But over the course of my walk with God, He has taught me to talk through issues with Him. Whatever is thrown at me is better resolved by taking it to the Father and chatting through with Him. I have experienced a father who will leave the 99 to shower some peace in my life. He is faithful, and His word is always sure, and when the path to the promise is unclear, that is the more reason to seek Him out.

David was known as a man after God’s own heart. He had experienced God in such an intimate way that he knew how to let his heart seek after God’s heart in all circumstances. Even when David was faced with Goliath, the giant, an enemy beyond his strength and skill set, his knowledge of a faithful God who had saved him from several atrocities gave him the confidence to defeat Goliath.

David said, The Lord Who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you! 

1 Samuel 17:37 (AMPC)

I believe this was a learning experience for Saul and the Israelites. They knew of GOD, but they had been introduced to His faithfulness and David’s victory over Goliath, I believe may have stirred up some faith and belief in their hearts.

In an interesting turn of events, we see God come through for His children when an enemy Haman, conspired to destroy the Jews in Persia and Medes. Under strange circumstances, Esther became a queen in a foreign land. Esther, an orphan with no entitlement to the throne, was crowned queen because she found favour in the king’s eyes, Esther 2:17. God knew the Jews would be in danger even before Haman thought of destroying the Jews. God used Esther’s bravery to save all His children. This shows the extent God will go to accomplish His purposes and plans. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, had to remind her of this when the time came for her to fulfil her duties as the intercessor of the Jews.

If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this.

Esther 4:14 (MSG)

My husband and I have been witnesses to God causing a shift and a movement in one season for such a time as this in another season. You see, at the beginning of the year, God laid it in our hearts to start a monthly prayer meeting with a few of our friends. It started really well, and we have been enjoying fellowshipping together. Little did we know that a few months ahead, COVID would happen, and we will be forced to stay at home and meet together every week over Zoom will be a source of strength and encouragement for us all. We have all been blessed in profound ways as we have seen God’s protection and deliverance throughout this pandemic season.

God always goes ahead of us and prepares the way for us because He knows the end from the beginning as He is the Alpha and the Omega. You may have received many promises from God, and sometimes it may feel like nothing will be fulfilled, and everything you have heard will never come to pass, but God is faithful, and He will fulfil His promises concerning you. David said in Psalms 35:27, I was young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

It may seem like time is against you, and you do not see any signs of progress or breakthrough, but I want to encourage you to keep hoping and trusting in the Lord. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23. Like yourself, many are the promises of God concerning my family and me, and most times, it just feels like we are never going to see any of them fulfilled but over and over again, we have seen God breakthrough and come through in the simplest and most profound ways. Even in situations where we have not fully trusted Him, His faithful love has burst through and poured out on my family. This is what motivates and keeps us going every day, and so I want to urge you to hold on to His promises to you, however small or big.

The same God who delivered Noah, David and the Jews is always by your side to see you through and bring to you to the fulfilment of His promises because He is indeed Faithful.

May you be filled with the Fullness of God and the Power of His Love!