October 13, 2024
Not long ago I officiated a wedding ceremony that followed the predictable theme of faithfulness. I, groom, take you bride, to be my wedded wife. I promise to love you, comfort you, honor and keep you, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to you so long as we both shall live. Soon, the bride pledged the same loyalty to her new husband.
In one sense these words are unremarkable because of their familiarity. Their implications, however, are not only practically profound but also theologically instructive. Because every groom is a picture of Christ in the home (Eph. 5:25-33) and every bride a reminder of the church (Eph. 5:22-24), marriage clearly and powerfully depicts the faithfulness of God toward His people.
I do. I will. I promise.
Vows such as these are more than a pattern to which a man and woman aspire; they are a picture of the abiding commitment of the Lord toward those who know Him. So great is God’s love for His own that He remains faithful to us even though we sometimes stray from Him (James 4:4-5). These themes reverberate in the Old and New Testaments alike. We are to declare (Ps. 89:1), celebrate (Psalm 89:8), and rest in (1 Thess. 5:23-24) God’s faithfulness for His people.
Seem too good to be true? Need an example from Scripture? Look no further than God’s reassurance of Israel amidst their Babylonian exile. Remember, they suffered at the hands of a foreign enemy because of their sinful idolatry and wickedness (Isa. 3). Yet, the Lord remained faithful to the Jews and promised to redeem them (Isa. 43:1). In addition, Yahweh insisted that He would be with them (43:2); that He was their God (43:3); that they were precious to Him (43:4); that He loved them (43:4); and that He take care of them (43:5). God was faithful even when His people were not.
Remarkably, through the sacrifice of His Son, God offers the same assurance to us! Like ancient Israel, we are often blind to the heart of our God, deaf to His Word, and oblivious to His ways. Yet, when we are faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). Those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ in repentance and faith have the joy of being sons and daughters of the God who is unwavering in His commitment to us.
Beyond God’s expressed love for His children is His explicit plan for those who follow Him. Though often a mystery to us, His agenda is bigger than the immediate needs that press upon our lives.
What career path should we choose?
Who should we marry?
Where should we live?
How can we ease the common burdens that arise?
Questions and struggles like these are not insignificant, but they are not ultimate either. When God seems silent on present matters that consume us, He remains faithful to His eternal ordering of our lives. He is not less purposeful when we do not understand Him, nor is He less concerned when we do not grasp His ways. But how can we be sure?
Revisiting an exiled Israel again reassures us. God not only promised to love His people, but to work on their behalf by gathering them from the four corners of the earth (Isa. 43:5-7). Most immediately, these verses pointed to the end of Jewish exile and their return from Babylon to their homeland. The fuller implication, though, is that one day God will gather His people from every nation, tribe, and tongue to live with Him in a New Heaven and Earth (Rev. 5:9-10; 7:9-10). In other words, their immediate need and its solution was part of a greater plan and reality that was coming.
The same is true for us.
During our greatest victories, God is working. When we grieve our darkest moments, God is still working. When we battle anxiety, He continues working. When we rebel and when we repent, He is working still. His eternal purposes for the redeemed are more wonderful than you can imagine, more comprehensive than you can see, and more significant than you can fathom. Even when the past is a roadmap for the future, God is always doing something new that can only be described as a faithful expression of His love (Isa. 43:18-20).
God will always be faithful, ultimately, because His name is at stake. The key, however, is that we pledge ourselves to Christ as a bride who adores her groom. How do we do it? By numbering ourselves with the redeemed who call out to God in repentance and faith. Our confidence is in the purifying work of the Savior who sought a people to be His own possession (Tit. 2:14). Then, and only then, can we experience the abundant, abiding faithfulness of the only true God.
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Dr. Adam B. Dooley is pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn., and author of Hope When Life Unravels. Contact him at adooley@ebcjackson.org. This column first appeared in Kentucky Today.
