Worship | Great is Thy Faithfulness, Oh God My Father

We are in week 2 of the Create Truth Art Challenge where we are currently studying Worship and His faithfulness in our lives.   Below is the devotional part of this week's lesson (the Truth Prompt).  You can find the entire lesson, including this devotion and the Creative Prompt, as well as all of the other weekly lessons in the Grace in Color Classroom.  It's FREE to sign up, so head on over so you don't miss a thing.

In week one of the challenge, we recognized that all glory belongs to Christ and in week two we were going to be reminded of the faithfulness of God in our lives.

We were created for worship. And we know that God deserves it. We really do. But, quite honestly, sometimes it's easy to lose sight of WHY He deserves it. Don't get me wrong, when we stop and think about it, most of us can get ourselves back to the place where the “why” becomes obvious. However, as we live our lives from day to day, deal with stressors of school, work and family, we can forget. As we become lost in the quagmire of illness, chronic pain, lost loved ones and the tragedies of a dying world, it's often difficult to look up from it all and recognize the “why”.

For this reason, our most patient God instructs us to remember. We need to remember that Christ was born, lived a perfect life, died the death we deserved and was then raised so that we can attain HIS righteousness if we trust in Him as our savior. That's the gospel and something we must truly KNOW in our hearts as well as our heads.

Here's the thing, we are also to remember the things that God has done for his people, and for us. How easily we forget, right? And thankfully, we are not alone. In Exodus 14 and 16, the Israelites seemed to have totally forgotten about their miraculous delivery as soon as they got hungry.

And when we forget, we are not content. You are where you are supposed to be if you are a child of God. He is working it all out (Romans 8:28). I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon:

“Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, God would have put you there. You are put by him in the most suitable place, and if you had had the picking of your lot half-an-hour afterwards, you would have come back and said, “Lord, choose for me, for I have not chosen the best after all.” ”

We can trust that He knows what is best for our souls and His glory, even if we can't see it in the moment.

The worship song I'm sharing today is actually a beautiful hymn. Allow yourself to do more than just sing along. Think about each line as you listen and sing this.

Take a Listen

(Lyrics by Thomas Obediah Chrishom and music by William Marion Runyan.)

Written Lyrics to 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 for ever will be

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

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

Perspective

This life is hard, but the Bible never promises that it would not be. What it does promise is that God is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).

And it promises that He will be with us always (Acts 2:25), that we will have eternal life if we are in Christ (1 John 2:25), and that He will see us through until that time (1 Peter 5:10).

One more perspective. Since we are talking about remembering the “why” behind our praise, let's peel back one more layer. Why exactly do we do this? Just because God demands our praise? To make ourselves feel better? As a worthy exercise? Of course not! All of our remembrances of God's faithfulness in our lives and more importantly, in the history of the world, is so we can tell others about it. We must be reminded so we can share. And we share so the Glory of Christ can be shown to the people of a dark and dying world.  People with no hope in themselves.

We must be careful to avoid spreading falsehoods that promise people that their lives will be instantly better if they are in Christ. Yes, it may be. But it may also get harder. Our hope is in the future, in the glory of Christ, and in the knowledge that we can rejoice in our suffering here on this Earth because there is coming a day when all suffering will end and we will be with Him.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5

Scripture Study

There is already some pretty awesome verses to ponder in the sections above.  And here are a few more for you if you want to dig a little deeper in this.

1. Review a couple of places in the Old Testament where God instructed his people to remember His faithfulness. Exodus 13. Exodus 20:8. Joshua 4.

2. Read Psalm 89:1-4 and let it become a prayer for today.

3. Read 2 Peter 3:8-9 to be reminded of one of the reasons we must be patient and sometimes don't understand God's timing.

4. Finally, read Lamentations 3:17-26, with particular emphasis on verses 22-23, the verses which inspired our song for today.

Reflection on His Faithfulness

What are you going through right now that is making it difficult to see God's faithfulness in your life?

How can you choose to praise Him in spite of those circumstances?

Take time today to remember His faithfulness to you. WRITE DOWN the ways that you can see God working in your life, either for your good or His glory. Make a list of blessings, but more importantly, write down the basics of the gospel. Write down when you were saved and allow the truth of the fact that He allowed his only son to die in order to exchange His wrath for His righteousness in us permeate your being today. And if you are not yet saved or confused about any of this, please feel free to contact me anytime.

AGAIN: An organized list of all of the devotions and creative prompts for the Create Truth Art Challenge can be found in the Grace in Color Classroom.  Feel free to sign up for the FREE challenge at any time.  Create Truth Art is designed so that you can jump in at any time.  Each devotion and art prompt can stand alone.  Of course, the goal is to be in God's Word more and more, so I'd love it you followed along with us each week!  There is, however, no pressure and no stress involved in this fun way to grow closer to God.