There are many things I’ll never understand
How God is present with people in every land.
How He created the earth, and put it in space
How a baby can be born with a beautiful face.
My mind gets so boggled as I think about Him
Joy fills my heart, and doubts become dim.
Though I don’t understand how He does things
Peace fills my heart and great joy it brings.
Then I wonder how He causes man to employ
All the beauty of nature, our lives to enjoy.
How is it He brings peace to a troubled breast
And allows that soul to enjoy His sweet rest?
I don’t know all the answers and I never will
Enough for me to know that God is there still.
I’ll praise Him forever with all of my breath
And I’ll plan to meet Him the day of my death.
Our strength for the present and hope for the future are not based on the stability of our own perseverance but on the fidelity of God. Isn’t that great? No matter what our need, (spiritual or physical) we can count on the Father’s faithfulness.
GOD’S WORK DONE IN GOD’S WAY WILL NEVER LACK GOD’S SUPPLIES!
Hudson Taylor said this great quote above. A missionary to China, he worked hard for God and suffered much but saw God do a great work. We may be faint and be weary, but our heavenly Father is all-powerful. Our feelings may fluctuate, but He is unchangeable. Even creation itself is a record of His steadfastness. That’s why we can sing these words from a hymn by Thomas Chisholm: “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.”
Faint & Weary? Our God is All-Powerful
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13) “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” Isaiah 40:28-29
Faint? No power? No might? God will always supply. We always have just enough of what we need just like the Israelites never had too little or too much manna each day in the wilderness. I love that we can shout from the mountaintops that our God increases our strength!
Feelings Fluctuating? Our God is Unchanging
“For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8)“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10) It’s so easy to let our emotions control us. I think a much better use of our time when we want to “get emotional” is to break out into a hymn or quote a verse and say a prayer. Meditating on an unchanging God is a much better exercise.
When all is said and done, God is faithful and He does not change. I can’t imagine the hard life Hudson Taylor had as he established churches and built up the ministries there in China but I can imagine that being in God’s will gave him the steadfastness he needed through God’s strength and faithfulness so that he could persevere to the end.
What goals do you have for the end of your life? Your perseverance in the Christian life will and must depend on the fidelity of God. Look to Him as His faithfulness is great! “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)