Psalm 90:12

“So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart” (NRSV).

I can remember when I was younger—much younger—a conversation that I had with my precious mother. She told me that once she was grown, it seemed like “inside” she hadn’t aged. Even though she knew her body was aging, her mind still felt like a young woman And she commented that the years had seemed to pass so quickly. Of course, then she seemed so much older than I and I really didn’t understand what she had said. But now as I’m approaching another birthday, I totally get it!

I remember also another conversation that I had with my aunt, a wonderful Christian minister who traveled all over the world and whose songs touch the hearts of literally millions. In her 80's I can remember her telling me that the older she got, the more she realized how much she still had to learn about being a Christian, how little she actually knew. I remember thinking that if she only knew a little about being a Christian, I didn’t know anything. But now, again as I’m getting older, I understand what she was saying and thinking . . . because there’s so much about being a Christian that I’m just now getting and so much I still have to learn.

One of the things I’m learning is how fleeting life is. Oh, I know that when we’re young, we think that time will never pass. We measure our lives by the things we haven’t yet done but still want to do:

When I get to Disneyland
When I graduate from high school
When I get my degree from college
When I get married
When I have a child
When I get that job
When I accomplish that (whatever)

The anticipation of wanting and waiting can make time seem like it passes so slowly and we think we will never “arrive.”

Other things in life make time weigh heavy on our hands: trials and tribulations, those things which weigh us down with the worry and anxiety. We become obsessed with the worries of life, focusing on the problems and how we think we might change them. I know that I often become so fixated that I forget to pray, that I forget that every part of my life—every moment—belongs to the Lord and I exhaust myself trying to solve that which is only possible for Him.

The fact is that we may never arrive at our goals and we may never solve the problems that press in around us.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”(Matthew 6:34 NRSV).

When my beloved mom went home to heaven, I had the task of cleaning out her work room. I found three dresses that she had been making for a trip. This was a trip that she greatly looked forward to, going to the Bay area and speaking on a friend’s Christian television show. One dress was almost done except for the hem. One dress was begun, with work still to do, and one dress was just the fabric cut out. As I packed up the dresses, I could imagine her working, even a bit frantically, enjoying the creative task of sewing, but knowing that she was under a time deadline to get them done. And then . . . she was gone! Home to heaven and the deadlines with her. She didn’t need the dresses anymore and didn’t care about them because she was with her Lord!

We are only promised today and the Father is only concerned with what we do on this day. He is only concerned with the lives we’ll touch, with the commandments we’ll obey, with the love we’ll show, with the offenses we’ll forgive, with His presence that we’ll enjoy. The wisdom of which the psalmist speaks, I believe, is the wisdom that comes in understanding what is important and what is not.

Yesterday, we finally got water to our home (after almost a week without it). The house, dishes, and clothes were amazingly dirty, piled up everywhere and I was, a bit frantically I must admit, starting the dishwasher and washing machine, grabbing rags and cleaner to tackle the kitchen, and looking a bit overwhelmed at all that needed to be done. In the midst came a call from some friends who needed to talk to us, who needed ministry and love. We could have said “no” and they would have understood, but that wouldn’t be wisely counting our days. The purpose of life isn’t to leave everything clean and finished. We will never do it! We can’t clean ourselves up and we will never finish the tasks demanded of us. Only the Lord Jesus can do that and He already did it when He announced, “It is finished,” from the cross. Aside from that, all the rest of this is just stuff!

I’m learning to grasp onto what is important and to leave the rest aside. And what is important? Grasping onto Him! Pleasing Him! Praying, studying the Word, being ready in and out of season to love on those around me.

Nothing else really matters.

“For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. . . . How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (1 Corinthians 15:53, 57 NLT).

© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 4:15-16

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (NRSV)

We know that Father God is spirit. God Himself is an entity whose like we cannot even begin to fathom. He has “appeared” in scripture as a burning bush, as a disembodied voice, as brilliant jewels. John described Him as thus:

“At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald” (Revelation 4:2-3 NRSV).

Daniel described Him:

“As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took His throne, His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and flowed out from His presence” (Daniel 7:9-10 NRSV).

These are amazing descriptions, but they are beyond my understanding. This is a God Who is far beyond me, with whom I cannot begin to have a relationship because He is so far beyond and I am so small. But this very God, understanding the enormous limitations of the creations (humans) He had made, also became a man, the God-man Jesus. And He continues to exist as this God-man, as one who can fully relate to me, having been through life as I am living it and now sitting glorified in heaven, as one day I will also be glorified because of Him.

A. W. Tozer writes:

“Now, at this very moment, there is a Man in heaven appearing in the presence of God for us. He is as certainly a man as was Adam or Moses or Paul. He is a man glorified, but His glorification did not dehumanize Him. Today He is a real man, of the race of mankind, bearing our lineaments and dimensions, a visible and audible man whom any other man would recognize instantly as one of us” (The Warfare of the Spirit).

That God would love me enough to not only die for me, but to become what I am, to bridge the gap with His own nature, is amazing. Of course, it doesn’t mean that He sinned as I have sinned, but He experienced life as I have experienced it with all the temptations, pains, and tribulations. He was hungry, tired, stressed, and betrayed. He has experienced it all and fully understands what I am going through now. Not only that, but having experienced what I have experienced, He was able to persevere through without sin, thus providing me a role model. When He was persecuted, He forgave. When He was alone, He looked to the needs of others. When He was tired, He secluded Himself in prayer. His life alone is all that I need to learn how to live to please God. He is indeed my High Priest, my Friend, and my Savior.

© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

2 Peter 1:5-11

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (NKJ)

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5 NKJ).

Peter and Paul are the two great foundational warriors of the Church, Peter leading the apostles into the new era with the Holy Spirit and Paul establishing most of the theology upon which our doctrines are established. Both write about persecution, about suffering, and both agree that, as believers, we are to glory in that suffering. The NLT says this: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure” (Romans 5:3). There is a sense that we should embrace our struggles, not because we are masochists and want to hurt, but because we know that God will use these struggles to mold our characters into the image of His Son.

Why is this so important? Peter tells us in the preceding verses:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature” (v. 3-4 RSV).

Paul described the battle within believers, a battle that is spiritual and involves both the commands of God and the lusts of the flesh:

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15 NKJV).

As believers, we should want to do what the Word says. We should love our enemies. We should put aside sin. We should forgive and leave peaceably. We should witness the gospel to the lost. But often we don’t do those things. We hold onto anger. We seek revenge upon those who have hurt us. We turn to the things that make us feel good to assuage our pain and guilt. So the Lord, in His infinite love and mercy, allows into our lives those things which turn us toward Him. He allows pain, suffering, and persecution to that we “may escape from the corruption that is in the world.”

Peter tells us to “give all diligence” to this process. Diligence is defined as “a steady, earnest, and energetic effort.” Thus, the process to which Peter is calling us is something that we do all the time, that we do with all of our hearts and desire, and which requires energy and effort. It isn’t something that happens to us, but is rather an interactive process in which we are fully involved with the Holy Spirit.

I can remember an Internet conversation that I had with a woman some time back. She basically said that she was who she was, faults and all, and if and when God wanted to change her, He would. She wasn’t the least interested in working at the process of change herself. Yet, here Peter is fully explaining to us that we must be involved in the process of change and that this process will involve suffering.

The first thing that Peter tells us to do is to add virtue to our faith. Virtue is moral purity or excellence. It really means simply doing the right thing (which, as most of us know, is usually not the easy thing). It means telling the truth, being kind and gentle, choosing the honest decision, abstaining from a vast multitude of behavior. We don’t see much virtue in our society today. It may be even difficult to think about what is the right thing to do. Often, what we have been taught (or seen through either our own families or through the media) is actually the wrong thing to do. In order to find out what is virtuous we need to know what the Bible says and then be willing to do it in every part of our lives.

It’s interesting that Peter puts virtue before knowledge. In a sense what he is saying is that we can’t understand the deeper things of Christianity until we understand the basics of right and wrong. As long as we are involved with habitual sin, the discernment of the deeper things of God will remain hidden from us. The writer of Hebrews speaks to this:

“About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil” (5:11-14 NRSV).

We must be trained to distinguish good from evil, trained not only understanding what virtue is, but applying it to our lives. We cannot understand or discern the deeper things of God until we not only understand good from evil, but have practiced it in our own lives! Paul tells us, in Romans, that “tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character.” It is suffering (tribulation) that forces us to persevere. And this isn’t necessarily even an external force, but an internal one. It is like a track that we must travel, at track that doesn’t allow us to turn to the left or the right, but forces us to continue in one direction, that direction being obedience to God. Oh, we can make the choice to escape the suffering, but if we do, we lose the opportunity to develop perseverance. And it is that perseverance that develops character (virtue) in our lives. If we want to move on to the deeper things of God, if we want to mature as Christians so that we are able to reach out to those around us with true spiritual maturity and teaching, then we must be willing to push through the suffering, to persevere through it, to reach on to the higher and deeper things of Christ.

© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

1 Peter 4:7-11

"The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ" (NRSV).

"The end of all things is near . . ."


Once Adam and Eve sinned, the earth as we know it was doomed. God is both too merciful and too just to allow sin to exist forever. Once sin entered creation, creation was doomed. It doesn’t matter that God has restrained His hand for more than 2,000 years. The end of all things is near because the end will　come. It is the same with the end of each of our lives. The one guarantee that comes to all of us is that this life, as we know it, will end. If we are believers, the Lord Jesus will come for us . . . one way or another. He will either return and gather all believers to Himself or He will come to us individually when we die to take us to Heaven. We have no guarantee for this life, only for the promises in His Word. We cannot know if we even have the next breath! The psalmist likens our lives to a passing shadow: "O Lord, what are human beings that You regard them, or mortals that You think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow" (Psalm 144:3 NRSV). Life is that precarious. And yet, we also know that when we breathe our last breath here, we will breathe our next breath there.

The question Peter poses is whether or not we are ready. Life is short. Have we done our best for Jesus? Are we worried about the things in life which do not matter or are we concerning ourselves with the things that bring glory to the Father? Peter admonishes us to do two things: (1) be serious and (2) discipline ourselves. The meaning of both words focuses on the idea of somberness, dispassion, being in control, being calm and collected in spirit. It is the idea of refusing to allow the circumstances of life thrust us this way or that, that we refuse to become upset or angry because of what has happened around us, but rather we remain calm, trusting the Lord to work for our good.

This, I’m beginning to believe, is the key to successful Christian living. Successful Christian living isn’t about whether or not we are happy, but is about how much we trust God to work all things for our good, even when circumstances are insane. It is, I think, much like the account of the disciples in the boat tossed by the storm:

"When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and He was alone on the land. When He saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, He came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Then He got into the boat with them and the wind ceased" (Mark 6:47-51 NRSV).

I find this account interesting. The disciples were alone, straining against an adverse wind. And rather than welcoming the Lord, they cried out in terror, thinking that His presence (His will) would make things worse (that He was a ghost). God’s will, even when it isn’t what we expected or what we wanted, is always the answer to our prayers and the best thing for us! Father God continues to work things for our good, even when we think that circumstances are getting worse. His responsibility is to work all things for our good. Our responsibility is to live sobering, calmly, in control of our thoughts and emotions, praying all the time and submitting everything to Him.

© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Luke 9:23-25

“Then He said to them all, ‘If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?’” (NRSV)

Who are you? What does your life consist of? How do you define yourself? What do you hold important? All of these questions help us to determine what makes up “our life.” Particularly in Western culture, where there is an abundance of wealth, life is more than simply breathing. It is the satisfaction of fulfilling our wishes and desires. It is becoming who we want to be or doing what we want to do. Even if we spend a majority of our time earning money in ways that aren’t fulfilling or fun, we focus on those times when we can “enjoy” ourselves doing . . . whatever. Maybe you are the kind of person who wants to focus on health, on eating right and exercising. Maybe you are the kind of person who wants to experience new things, challenge yourself to new heights. Maybe you have a particular hobby or talent that is your “pride and joy.” It doesn’t matter what it is. That thing (or those things) which make you happy, for which you long, to which you gravitate, those things are at least part (if not the focus) of your life.

The question that the Lord Jesus presents here is this: Are we willing to give that up for the sake of the kingdom? If giving it up meant that someone would get saved, that someone would listen to the gospel message, would we be willing to give it up?

Dr. Sidney and Helen Correll were Foursquare pastors infused with a passion for missions. This same passion they taught their children. Their son, Sidney Robert, took up the passion and prepared as a medical doctor for the mission field in Africa. Imagine the years, dedication, and expense that were incurred to allow him to fulfill his dream. His parents were overjoyed beyond imagination, that one of their children would take up the dream and dedicate their life to bringing the gospel to a continent where many were nonbelievers. Helen Correll, in her book, quotes her husband:

“Can you imagine what it meant to me when my own son finished his long years of training as a doctor and surgeon, and sailed to the African continent as a medical missionary? I felt a tremendous responsibility to this boy, and to all the missionaries of United World Mission. I dreamed dreams of conquest, conquest of this whole western part of Africa. And then, the cruel message from the Western Union operator: ‘Sidney Robert went to be with the Lord October 15th, 4 am.’ In a blind flash of pain, my world caved in, and the awful question rushed in, ‘Why?’ All these years of preparation. The work was just begun, and there was not another missionary doctor in a thousand miles.”

Sidney Robert hadn’t been in Africa more than a few months, perhaps less, when the Lord took him home in a tragic accident. It seemed that Dr. Sidney and Helen had lost everything, but as mature Christians, they were willing to lose their lives, even their dreams if the Lord required it. Imagine their surprise when, because of their son’s death, more than a dozen people responded to the need for missionaries in Africa and answered the call. Father God was certainly aware of the need and had His own plan to provide for it! But it took the Corrells being willing to give up their “lives,” to give up their dream as they had dreamed it in order to allow God’s plan to take hold.

My husband and I are currently facing the possibility of having to give up a dream, a part of our lives that we thought was an important ministry. And as we have struggled with the thought of this loss, the Lord spoke to me yesterday: Are you willing to give this up for the sake of the Kingdom? If this means that people are drawn to me, is the loss of this part of your life worth it? Are you willing?

I believe that the Lord is asking each one of us this question. We need to be examining our lives and asking what thing is there that the Lord would have us give up. What are the things in our lives—even those things which seem so right and good—that are impeding the work that He has planned? In order to gain our lives with Him, we need to be readily willing to give up whatever He asks in order that the Kingdom might be advanced.

Are we willing?

© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Psalm 34:13-18

“Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit” (NRSV).

Perspective is everything!

I can remember when I was learning to drive. (And, yes, it was a long time ago.) I would watch the curb and lines very near to the car and often find myself drifting perilously close to the curb or into the oncoming traffic. Only when I looked ahead, into the distance, was I able to correctly steer the car in a straight line.

I think that life for believers is very much like that. When we stare too intensely at the circumstances around us, focusing on them, we lose our perspective and begin to veer into all kinds of sin, including speaking evil and deceit. We forget that ahead—in the distance—is the promise of salvation, is the promise of God to take care of us. That He is working all things for our good, even perhaps the evil things that are currently surrounding us.

When we drive, the curb next to us is rarely our destination. It is simply that which we have to pass by in order to reach the place we are going. It is the same in life. This situation in which we find ourselves enmeshed isn’t our destination; it isn’t our “forever.” It is simply something we need to pass by on our way to our true and eternal home. It’s just a speck in the road.

This passage is clearly about a situation where someone was being persecuted. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. I’m currently in a situation where I am crying out for help, a situation where of trouble. I am very brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, and yet, I know that the Lord is with me and is going ahead of me to make the perfect way.

This passage isn’t alone in its admonition of how we should act when we are in the midst of trials. Throughout scripture—over and over again (probably the repetition is for those like me who are obtuse when it comes to learning how to respond in crises)—we are commanded to respond to evil with good. Paul wrote in Romans:

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (12:17-21 NRSV).

Paul’s passage is more powerful that I could imagine. The word translated “noble” in v. 17 is kalos. From Strong’s G2570 it means:

“1 beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable. 1a beautiful to look at, shapely, magnificent. 1b good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends. 1b1 genuine, approved. 1b2 precious. 1b3 joined to names of men designated by their office, competent, able, such as one ought to be. 1b4 praiseworthy, noble. 1c beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, and hence praiseworthy. 1c1 morally good, noble. 1d honourable, conferring honour. 1e affecting the mind agreeably, comforting and confirming.”

I know that the definition is long, but I read it again and again. And then I thought about all of this in light of the scripture: Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

Take thought for what is . . . beautiful, excellent, surpassing, precious, commendable, magnificent, excellent in its nature and characteristics, genuine, praiseworthy, beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, morally good, honorable, comforting . . . in the sight of all.

So, when I am in a hurtful or harmful situation, I am not to respond in kind, but instead to take thought of God, for what else or who else is beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life? Who else is excellent in nature and characteristics? When I hit a bump in the road, rather than focusing on the bump, I need to focus on the beauty of the Lord and His provision for me.

Paul also makes this passage very practical. He commands us to repay evil with good. Now, it might be easy to think that Paul didn’t know what he was talking about if he had never suffered persecution. But he did! He described his suffering in 2 Corinthians:

“Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked” (11:24-27 NRSV).

And what’s amazing is that earlier, in chapter 4, Paul calls all these things “slight momentary afflictions” (v. 17). How could he do that? I think, perhaps, it’s because he was able to keep his eyes on the destination and not worry about the curbs or the bumps in the road. He understood the purpose of being a Christian: to minister to a world that, by its nature, would create pain and heartache and suffering. This world is filled to the brim with sin. People are out of control trying to hang onto their rights, trying to assuage their pain, and trying to justify their own hurtful actions. They don’t need to have any more pain added to their lives. Instead, they need to be ministered to. They need to be fed with the Bread of Life and satisfied with the Living Water. And, who can do that but the believers around them? Who can do that but me? Even if they are the ones who have harmed me, how can I deny them the opportunity to learn about God’s love and what the Lord Jesus has done for them? And if I make them my enemies, how can I share the gospel with them? The psalmist wrote:

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.

The Lord knows what I need. He sees and knows if evil has been done to me and because of His love, He is angry with the evil doers. But He is also ready and willing to offer them forgiveness and salvation if they will repent. I don’t need to stand up in defense of myself. I don’t need to try to find some kind of recompense. Only God can truly restore what I have lost and He will provide exactly what I need. Meanwhile, I need to keep my eyes on the goal at the end of the road, keep myself focused on what I should be doing, and continue to pray and minister to those around me.

© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Psalm 89:8

“O Lord God Almighty! Where is there anyone as mighty as You, Lord? Faithfulness is Your very character” (NLT).

I teach in a public school and these days, there’s a lot of talk within educational circles about character education. The word “character” in that context is basically talking about morality, the ability to see the right and wrong in each situation and to choose the right, regardless of one’s initial impulses or desires. Basically, for me, character means that foundational part of a person that motivates his decisions, his behavior, and from which he cannot deviate without conscious choice or the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Character is who we are when no one else is looking.

A. W. Tozer wrote an entire book on God’s character, The Knowledge of the Holy. In an opening chapter, he wrote: “An attribute of God is whatever God has in any way revealed as being true of Himself.” In his Bible Handbook, Pastor Jack Hayford wrote: “God may be described in terms of His attributes, the inherent characteristics of His person or being.” I truly believe that when the translators of the NLT chose to translate Psalm 89:8 using the word “character,” they chose that word deliberately.

Faithfulness is Your very character.

That phrase is so powerful. Think about how it is different from these phrases:

You are a faithful person.
You are always (or usually) faithful.

Faithfulness—the act of being faithful all the time—is not only a way to describe God; it is God. The very essence of faithfulness, its very existence, is dependent upon God Himself existing. There is no faithfulness without God. Galatians 5 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (v. 22-23). The thing is, these are not simply characteristics or attributes of God; these are God. Without Him, these would not exist. Without God, there is no love, for God is love. Without God, there is no joy, for God is joy. Without God, there is no peace or patience or kindness or generosity or faithfulness or gentleness or self-control. These things do not exist outside of Him and we simply describe Him using them. These things are God!

Faithfulness is Your very character.

It is so very easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that our lives and this world can exist, even for a moment, without God or outside of His influence. It’s easy to “make believe” that we can do something that He won’t see or that we can hide from Him. (It would be easier to hide from the oxygen that surrounds our planet than to hide something from God.) I can’t hide the fear or anger within my heart from Him. I can’t hide my frustration with a certain situation or my desire for vengeance. He sees it and He already knows about it. What He’s waiting for isn’t to discover it, but rather for me to honestly admit that I have sinned and to seek His willing and ready forgiveness. And He is willing and ready to forgive because He is faithful.

© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.