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Generous vs. Faithful

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

We like to talk about how faithful God is. God was so faithful blessing us with this baby. God was faithful to heal me. God was faithful in my success. We throw the word around a lot. But, are we misguided using this term erroneously?

God is faithful in many things. The Bible says so.

God is faithful to:
Cleanse us of all unrighteousness
Keep His promises/covenants
Love us
Forgive us
Shelter us
Be a place of refuge
Give us hope

God is faithful in many things. But, when it comes to life, I wonder if we are misplacing his faithfulness and confusing it with his generosity.

What do you say to the person who doesn't have that baby yet and is struggling with infertility? God isn't faithful to you? Maybe you aren't "delighting yourself in the Lord" enough. And to the one who isn't healed. What do you say to them? Well, I am not sure where God's faithfulness is there.

We have confused God's faithfulness with his generosity. While the Bible often speaks about God's faithfulness, it never says all our dreams will come true on this side of heaven. He doesn't specifically promise us babies, unlimited finances, safety, healing this side of heaven. When blessings of life come our way, it's because our God is generous. His generosity is not tied to his faithfulness.

God is faithful. He will bring us to Heaven one day because of the covenant he made through Jesus. He will always be our place of refuge and strength. He is faithful in that. What he doesn't promise us, is things or an easy life. I think this is what trips people up in their faith. They witness others receiving blessing after blessing wondering why their God is faithful to everyone else but them. When, in reality, the gifts we see others inherit have nothing to do with God's faithfulness.

His promises are always there; steadfast. They are never-changing. His faithfulness in your life isn't measure by your blessings, or lack there of. His faithfulness is seen in your salvation: in your ability to carry on when life throws curve balls at you. His faithfulness shines through the hope you have in Jesus not whether or not you have acquired the great American dream.

God's faithfulness is steady and strong. His promises ring true generation after generation. His generosity to us is icing on the cake. His faithfulness is unchanging.

I think we need to reconsider how we talk about God's faithfulness in our lives. He is equally faithful to us all. His generosity goes above and beyond his faithfulness. His merciful love to us, his joy in us, is where his generous blessings come from. He desires us to live life fully (John 10:10) in him.

No matter what someone else's generous tab looks like, God's faithfulness remains the same. He is faithful. He is just. He is full of mercy. He is a generous God. When you evaluate your life, take note of his steadfast faithfulness and then thank him for his generosity, for they are two different things.

Love & Blessings,
Meg

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