Faithfulness
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return.
2Timothy 4:7-8
I was invited last weekend to a village called Dengi, three hours from Jos, Plateau State. It was for the foundation laying ceremony of the Nigeria Christian Corpers’ Fellowship (NCCF) family house.
I had lived for about one year in the same village for my one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and I was the co-ordinator of the fellowship for that period. We organized outreaches in hospital, open field film show, Easter picnic for children and so on. Looking back now at those times, I could only thank God I didn’t influence my posting to another place where probably I wouldn’t have left as much impact as He had helped me to do in Dengi.
The reason why I’m saying all these is because staying in that village for a year wasn’t funny. There were no infrastructures- electricity, good road... we fetched water from a nearby flowing river (for domestic use), and worse of all, the phone network was bad, in fact I was literally cut off from my family. Being a Chartered Accountant, I had an option not to stay there because someone had already helped in influencing my stay to Jos which is the State capital. But I stayed anyway, the rest is history today. Going back there last weekend and seeing a few people there gives me joy especially because what we could only do at that time was to acquire the land for the building on which the foundation was now laid last Saturday. While I was preparing on what to say there, God gave me a word which I shared with some of the leaders I met with there, the word is Faithfulness and I would like to share with you.
Faithfulness simply means being full of faith in a thing that you want to stand by it no matter what. It also implies in some context being predictable, reliable and dependable. God is not out looking for those who are faithful for a while or when the conditions are right, but those who will be faithful in all situations and till the very end.
What does it really mean to be faithful?
In Genesis 39:9 Faithfulness is who you are when nobody is watching. When Joseph was about to be tempted by his master’s wife and nobody was there, he said how could he do such wicked thing and sin against God- not even against is master first. What do we do when no one is watching?
In Daniel 1:8 Faithfulness is doing the right even when you have an opportunity to do wrong. Daniel was a young guy taken captive to Babylon but He made up his mind not to defile himself. For many, once they step out of the shores of their countries to a strange land, they put off the cloth of righteousness by either not going to church or just mingling with unbelievers. Are u still faithful even in that strange land?
In Hebrews 12:1-2 Faithfulness is enduring the shame and all the ills that obeying God may bring you. Jesus endured the cross and now He’s set at the right hand of God.
Areas of Faithfulness
Use of Power/ Office/ Position
One of the areas where God expects us to remain faithful is in the use of power or position we find our self. The scriptures says all power belongs to God. By implication, if He gives you a portion of the power and you misuse it like the parable of the talent, He simply takes it from you and give it to another. Psalms 75:6 says Promotion comes from God. Are you using your current office to glorify Him?
Use of your body
Hmm, this is where many people feel nobody has the right to tell them what to do with their body. But wait for this, 1Corinthians 3:16 says your body is not yours but the temple of the most high God and He further says if you defile His temple ‘that is your own body’, He will destroy. There’s no gainsaying, we are all accountable to God on how we use our bodies.
Use of your resources
Another area where we need to remain faithful is that of our resources especially TIME and MONEY. How do we use our time? Do we spend time on the trivial things or on impactful things, things that leave memories on the sand of time? Do you spend time or invest it? If you sleep for 8hours a day, by the time you’re 75years old, you must have slept for 25years…Ah! Are you practising how to die? When will you wake up to affect the lives that are attached to you. If you spend 15minutes in the bathroom every morning, you might have stayed in the bathroom for some 4years by the time you’re 70years. What are doing there- come out and manifest!
In the use of your money, what do you spend on? To start with, do you claim that what you have is not enough and so you don’t even tithe. The only way God will ever commit more things into your hands is by being faithful with the little He has committed to your hands so far. No kingdom investment. No giving to the poor or less privileged. The way out of poverty or lack is to give- this has been proved over and over. Until you sow, don’t even think of harvest. It doesn’t even answer to prayers- does that shock you! You either give or lack. God is looking for those who will be faithful to Him with everything they have. Has God asked you to give your son? He said so to Abraham and he had no choice than to swear by Himself that He would bless him in all things, we all are still benefitting from Abraham’s blessing today.
Please know that anytime you look up and see the sun above you, then you should know God is still faithful, hence, we are the variable.
Whatever it will cost you, remain faithful to God and in a short while He will lift you.
Remain blessed.
