o come all ye faithful

a song we’ve sang thousands of times, suddenly meaning more.

we sang this at the Passion City Church Christmas Eve service and the word faithful hung in the air, tugging on my heart strings as bright as the Bethlehem star.

“faithful” is a word I have been pondering a lot lately.

usually when we talk about being faithful we are referring God and His faithfulness.

“having or showing true and constant support or deserving trust

keeping your promises or doing what you are supposed to do”

:faithful

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” {Hebrews 13:8}

is there anything more constant than that?

in recent months, I have been pondering who I am, the “stuff” I am made of, and what I am designed for. it is quite the lofty task to discern these things and I do not suggest taking it on for the faint of heart.

one word that has continually come up in my brain is this word faithful.

when the day is gone and the day turns to night and the night to day forever…what will people say of me? what will people say of you?

I have placed pretty high priority on faithful.

but what does that look like for you and I, for I am certainly not “the same yesterday and today and forever?”

as I have pondered this word “faithful” here is what I have concluded:

being faithful means trusting. it means not complaining. it means being really honest with yourself and God about how you feel in situations, circumstances, and thoughts. {He can handle it.} it means dancing in the rain, praising in the storm. it means claiming, knowing, and believing that HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS even when it doesn’t make sense on this earth.

and that all sounds nice and lovey doesn’t it? ready? go. can you make a that a list, a 1-2-3 check-off and make yourself a faithful-label deserver?

you would certainly have my attention if you could.

but chances are high that you cannot, because truly what being faithful to God boils down to is trusting, fear, and worry.

okay, so it boils down to refusing fear and worry and {not so} simply trusting.

How many times does the bible say to “not fear” or “do not worry?”

since apparently there is controversy over this I am not going to attempt to precisely answer this question, but I trust you get my point.

but–let’s be honest–how many times do we really need Him to say it? this is not a theological grey area. He clear states that He is faithful, He has good plans for us, and that He cannot go against His character which is to be faithful.

in believing the bible, worry, fear, and trust are {mentally} no brainers. 

Unfortunately, we are big fans of emotional conductors.

“oh, I woke up in a terrible mood, thinking “what if,” negative thoughts, clearly I am going to have a tragically awful day.”

you-0; emotions-1

we love to allow our emotions to rob us of joy and unload excuses into our lives.

but when we choose faithfulness…boy, how life changes.

as I sang the chorus of that Christmas song we have sung a multitude of times, I wondered what our lives would look like were to be deserving of the title “faithful.”

how would–not God and his actions or feelings towards us, but instead–our hearts, our peace, and our lives shift were we to embrace faith and trust and refuse in Christ’s name the worry that is so pointless anyways?

someone I love dearly who is very close to our family is joining the military soon and tonight my mom said how she would worry and be afraid a lot for him.

and I couldn’t help but wonder…”well how in the world is that going to help him or you?”

we consider this emotion something productive, something innate, something to be expected, and that cannot be discarded.

but we are wrong. shocking.

there is a life, a world, and a journey that is calling that remains grounded in this world, yet centered around Jesus, who He is, and His promises…this journey is the only one that provides security, peace, and joy.