God: Faithfulness

God: Faithfulness Our Father Is Faithful to Deliver
Called by God to full-time Christian service, the man resigned a lucrative job, left a specialized career of 20 years, and took his family over 2,000 miles to a strange city to enter seminary.
He was able to obtain only part-time employment in his profession and his annual salary was barely one-third of what he had earned before God called him.
The costs of being in seminary and of keeping his two children in Christian elementary school became heavier and heavier. When things got too tight he stayed out a semester, but his children went to school. Finally, his wife, who had not worked since the first child was born, took a full-time job.
All the while the man's prayer was to share with God his heart's desire that he be given work in Christian service that would make ends meet while he went to school and served his Lord Jesus Christ.
Though he enjoyed many opportunities to preach and to minister without pay, full-time Christian work eluded him. He began to seek full-time employment at secular jobs, but he knew in his heart if he landed one that probably would be the end of seminary.
One day a series of unpredictable circumstances arose whereby in less than two weeks, without any effort on his part, the man was in a full-time job utilizing his specific talents, in full-time Christian service, and with an employer that insisted that he continue in seminary.
God faithfully prepares hearts in times of trial and temptation. And when His time is right, He delivers.

Never Disappointed
A pastor who visited an old man suffering from painful rheumatism found him with his Bible open in front of him. The minister noticed that the word "proved" was written repeatedly in the margin. He turned over a few pages and found, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." "Proved." And so it went on through the Book. Next to John 1:12 he had written "Proved." He had received Christ by believing and had indeed become a child of God. He had proved that promise of God's Word. Millions of other born-again believers could write "proved" next to this verse. There isn't a single one who has put this promise of God to the test and been disappointed.

God's Noble Reserve
The fact remains that God does keep many secrets, and it seems to me that there are some secrets that every good government ought to keep to itself for the good of its citizens. Responsibility demands a certain amount of reserve. God is certainly responsible and He exercises authority. But He keeps secrets. These are both for His glory and the glory of those who have become His children through faith in Christ. This is not understood by unbelievers, even as some unrealistic citizens do not concede the necessity of a certain amount of secrecy on the part of their government. Sometimes men cultivate the habit of concealment so that they may circumvent opposition and accomplish their own crafty aims more adroitly. This reflects an attitude of contempt for others. But God's reserve is always noble. It is always in favor of man. And the mystery of mysteries is that it is both for His glory and the believer's glory.

Confidence in God
All curiosity implies more or less skepticism and mental uneasiness. If our faith were unlimited, we should not seek to have so many questions answered. Imagine a physician whose fidelity and skill have inspired such confidence that, when he is called in, no one ever dreams of asking what treatment he is adopting or of cautiously checking his diagnosis; or a commander to whom his chief gives a free hand, not being asked to divulge his plan of campaign. The man is not yet born who commands that kind of unlimited confidence. But God demands and deserves this matchless honor. He ordains not a few of the mysteries that confront us so that we may have occasions for glorifying Him by our unquestioning trust in His wisdom and goodwill.