Sustaining through Steadfastness

Have you ever felt lied to? Betrayed? Trampled over? Just plain tired? I have. In fact I am right now. The Lord is my sustainer, giver of Life, and Savior-but are words really enough? We always hear the phrase growing up, “Actions speak louder than words.” Why is that? Why is our given word not always binding us to the Truth and the words of our mouth prove us to be far from a Good God? As Christians, our actions must speak LOUDLY. How can we do this?
I believe in God’s divine providence. In fact, I am one of those radical Christians that believes in the Lord overseeing all moves that we make each day. So, I love just flipping my Bible’s pages through my fingers and opening up to a random section, whenever I feel like it. And, it always seems like there is pertinent information and Good News for that specific day (even when you open up to a book like Habakkuk or Exodus!). Tonight, at 12:15 am, I did this. Now, I am wide awake basking in the Glory of our Lord and Savior.

If we have sat in a few church services, we have most likely heard the verse Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” When flipping through the pages of my bible though I opened to this passage and read the preceding verses. “For thus says the Lord: When Seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”
God promises to fulfill. The covenant He made with the people must be made to retroact and diminish the teachings made by false prophets in the region. While many were “deceiving” and prophesying to the people in the name of the Lord, Our Father held His covenant. To abolish the false teachings of false prophets our omnipotent and omnipresent God knew He must intervene to uphold His promise to Babylon. He knew the plans He had for Babylon. Plans to give it a future and a hope. Often we think the Lord is just speaking to us when we read Jer. 29:11, don’t we? Instead, the Lord is speaking to nations, to the world, and to each and every one of His children. He is not speaking simply of an intervention when false prophets arise, or glimpses of hope in times of darkness. No, God is talking about entire redemption and fulfillment. Our God is not a God who makes and breaks promises. Our God is not a God who declares His might to scare, threaten, or frighten. I am beginning to see that the Lord’s voice is one of Steadfast presence. God’s entire mission-even when he was here as “God in the bod” (Jesus), was to substitute the lack, and be the consubstantiation for the sins of the world. It was a fulfillment and it was a continuance. Then why was it “finished” when Christ was crucified? The ultimate covenant was fulfilled. Snapshots of the intensity of God’s promises are revealed through His covenants from Genesis 1 until Revelation 22. Once again, God wants to make it VERY clear that He is our sustainer through steadfastness. Through steadfastness alone, God is different and God is Holy. Our Earth and none of the people are steadfast and unconditional…relationships are broken, lies are spread and promises certainly are not fulfilled. While things of this earth wither and die, God’s glory, grace, and mercy are unchanging. Our Heavenly Father’s actions on the Cross fulfilled his Glorious words from Day One. Let us give this method a test run. Let us try to not only bring someone hope today…but really follow through with that friendship and foster its maturity. Let us prioritize a task and truly complete the work dutifully and with integrity. We will fail as we are living in a conditional world. But, when we do come through, and when we do fulfill all that we speak we become different. As Christians let’s become people of our word. Let us become people who aim to sustain. Let us transform into the likeness of God by fulfilling all of the callings and desires that the Lord places in our heart and soul.


“When the Lord pours out an especial spirit of prayer, it is a good sign that he is coming toward us in mercy. Promises are given to quicken and encourage prayer”- Matthew Henry