God, the Perfectly Faithful

Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator

(1 Peter 4:19).

 

If our hearts have not come to rest in God, we will search in vain for any other place that is safe. Our Creator is the only personal being who can be counted on unreservedly. We may commit ourselves to God without fear, there being no possibility that God will ever betray us or fail to keep God’s commitments.

From our vantage point, there may seem to be times when God has forsaken us, although that is never actually the case. A child, thinking that a monster is hiding in the dark corner of his bedroom, may fear that his parents have forsaken him, when in reality they’re standing just outside the door. Just so, there may be times when our immediate circumstances cause us to doubt God’s faithfulness, but if we could see everything that is going on, our doubts would disappear. We shouldn’t let either our short‑term vision or our feelings call God’s faithfulness into question.

We tend, perhaps also because of short‑term vision and feelings, to try to find a perfect source of trust in other human beings. When we do this, we set ourselves up for disappointment. No one except God can be counted on perfectly, and the ways in which we find this out are often heartbreaking. David, who was more than once betrayed by a close friend, knew the sadness of this experience: “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance” (Psalm 55:12,13).