God is faithful
Who knew this time last year how different life would be in March 2021! It’s been long, a struggle, relentless and that is perhaps putting it mildly! And depending on how you feel, it may be that as you look ahead, it still feels like a long, hard struggle, albeit with some glimmers of light and hope on the horizon. But whatever your thoughts and feelings as you look back at this last year and you look ahead with hope to what could be, one thing has remained the same; one constant has always and will always be there – God. And God is faithful. Just by the very nature of who He is, He is faithful; He always has been and always will be. Through every season of our lives, through this last year, through the sadness, sorrow, and loss, He has been present, by our side, even in the darkest of moments. And His faithfulness doesn’t end when we come out of lockdown and into new realities and ways of life; He will still be faithful.
One of the practices of the Israelites in the Old Testament was to build an altar to God when He had revealed Himself in a significant way. They built altars to God to remember His goodness, His faithfulness, and His presence. In Joshua 4, after God had parted the river Jordan for the Israelites to cross, they built an altar to God using 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel.
“In the future, your children will ask you, ‘what do these stones mean?’, then you can tell them, they remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across. (Joshua 4:6-7)
The altar was built so the Israelites and future generations would remember the faithfulness of God. Now, I’m not suggesting we should go out today and build some kind of physical altar to God (unless you feel you want to of course!), and I know the pandemic is far from over and we have not yet reached the other side, but I do think it’s important that as we reflect on a year since life changed beyond recognition, we take time to reflect on God’s faithfulness to us through this storm. Of course, we know that there is still a way to go, this storm has not passed yet, but along the way, as we look back and look forward, let’s keep on reminding ourselves, and each other, of God’s faithfulness. He has never left our side, and He’s not going anywhere now or in the days ahead. God is faithful and He holds us each in His hand – of that we can be confident today and every day.
