FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT FRIDAY: Faithfulness

This week, I was working through week 8 "Keep Believin'" of Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself study of the fruit of the Spirit. As I started to answer the second question asked in Day 1, the Lord took me on a bit of a sidetrip...

DOES GOD CLAIM TO BE BELIEVABLE? WHAT DOES GOD'S STATEMENT THAT HE IS "ABOUNDING IN LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS" MEAN TO YOU? (EXODUS 34.1-6)

The LORD said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain." So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness..."

As I was thinking about the question, wondering how I was going to answer it, my eyes flitted over to the list of cross references in my study Bible, and so I decided to look up the cross references for the phrase "abounding in love and faithfulness." The very first one listed was Genesis 19.16:

When he (Lot) hesitated, the men (the visiting angels) grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

The very first reference listed was not a definition or even a description - it was a concrete example of God's abounding love and faithfulness! When Lot hesitated, the angels literally grabbed him and his family by the hands and pulled them out of the city of Sodom instead of leaving them to suffer a terrible fate.

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God, who abounds in love and faithfulness, will not leave His own to complete and final destruction: we couldn't save ourselves - He sent His Son; when we hesitate to flee imminent destruction - He may go so far as to send angels to grab us by the hand and pull us from danger (in a literal or figurative sense). And when we are facing hard consequences for things that we've done - He's the One there to pick up the pieces.

I find it encouraging that it is this same abounding faithfulness of God, manifested by the Holy Spirit, that can characterize a life submitted to the moment by moment authority and leadership of the Holy Spirit. So whether it is faithfulness in believing and trusting God, or faithfulness in relationships or circumstances, this faithfulness is only present when I'm abiding in Him.