Show Me Your Glory: Reflections on God's Multifaceted HeartSample

God Abounds with Faithfulness

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of riding a wave.

When I was a teenager, my family lived on Oahu. During those years, I enjoyed boogie boarding. I was never an expert at the sport, but I learned to recognize a good wave and knew when to start paddling to meet it. And once I caught it…man, was the ride incredible.

Boogie boarding taught me about the intense power of water. Pretty quickly, I learned that the ocean demanded my respect. I felt its strength in the waves and its pull on the beach where the ocean met the shore.

Life can feel a lot like the ocean. Sometimes, it’s calm and peaceful. At other times, it’s a thrilling adventure. Still, other times, it comes at us full-force—like the current pulling us in a direction we don’t want to go or waves eroding the ground on which we stand.

This may be why the Bible writers often refer to God as a Rock—a firm place of safety and security.

Because like a rock, God is faithful.

In the Bible’s original Hebrew, the word translated faithfulness is emet. “When emet is used of people, it describes reliable or stable character, or trustworthiness.”1

God’s faithfulness means he’s consistent—like a rock that stands firm through the passage of time. All that was true of him initially is still true now because of his faithfulness. Everything he was in Moses’ day—compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and filled with loyal love—he is for us today.

This is reality, according to the Bible.

But sometimes, as we discussed in the last devotion, this can be hard to believe.

When life batters us with one ruthless wave after another, we can wonder, as Jesus’ disciples did, if he really cares about us (Mark 4:35-41).

When God seems distant, and our prayers go unanswered, we may question, as Mary and Martha did, if he really is good (John 11:21-35).

When we’re living in a mess of our own making, we can doubt, as the prodigal son did, if our Father will really welcome us home (Luke 15:11-32).

Yet here, we find the essence of faith—not belief without doubt or trust without struggle, but a choice to believe that God’s character is reliable.

Ultimately, faith is about God, not us. It requires a response on our part, but the weight of faith falls on God and his reliability. In fact, the verb form of emet (faithful) is he’emin. This word means “to consider faithful.”1

God is the consistent one. Our job is simply to consider him trustworthy—even if our belief is as tiny as a seed we plant in our garden.

When our hearts and circumstances tell us otherwise, faith chooses to believe in God’s faithfulness.

The hymn writer said it well:

“When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.”2

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow” (James 1:17 NLT).

Personal Reflection: How have I seen God’s consistency in my life? In what areas do I struggle to consider him faithful?

Identity Check: Because God is faithful, I have a secure foundation.

Prayer Prompt: Thank God for how he’s been faithful in the past. And if life has convinced you he isn’t faithful, ask him to show you how this character quality is already present in your life. Talk to him about where you need more faith today.

1. The Bible Project's Word Study series on the character of God, in a video entitled "Faithful"

2. "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" by Edward Mote, public domain