God’s faithfulness to His people is really a by-product of His faithfulness to His word. Whatever God has said He will do, He will do. God always keeps His word. And so, when trying to understand the faithfulness of God, the best place to start is with God and His promises.
All too often we make the mistake of starting with ourselves. I’ve had many people ask me: ‘Why doesn’t God answer my prayer?’—by which they really mean: ‘Why doesn’t He say “yes” to me? Why isn’t He giving me what I want?’ Do you see how that’s more about me than it is about God? You may say: ‘But I’m serving the Lord, I go to church, I love my neighbour, I witness to my friends, I’m sincerely trying to live a holy life—surely God should grant my request, especially if it’s a really good request, like the healing of a friend or the salvation of a family member.’ Because we have been ‘good’ Christians, we assume God owes us. Surely, He should say ‘yes’ to our prayers.
This approach, however, is not prayer in the name of Jesus. It’s prayer in my own name. Because I’ve been a good boy, God should give me what I want—or at least what I need. But with this reasoning, I’m expecting God to act on my behalf based on my merit rather than on the promises in His word and the merit of His Son, who has already given me much more than I could ever deserve.
You see, God is faithful! He does answer prayer, but His faithfulness is always wrapped up in His promises. Just to clarify: God’s actions or answers do often depend on what we do. For example, salvation is promised to those who confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). And, if we confess our sins, God is faithful; He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). So what we do is important, but we still need to start with God and a correct understanding of His word. When we trust in His promises, we soon discover that God always keeps His word. He is faithful to His promises, and in so being, He is faithful to His people.
In the context of our sanctification and growth as Christians, Paul writes that: ‘The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it’ (1 Thessalonians 5:24). You can trust Him! The writer to the Hebrews tells us to ‘hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful’ (Hebrews 10:23).
Another mistake we sometimes make is to take God’s promises out of their context and apply them incorrectly to our situation. This is why it’s so important to read the entire flow of a biblical passage rather than simply plucking a promise from the Bible and trying to fit it to our immediate need. A good example of this is the ever-popular Jeremiah 29:11. Yes, God promised His people in exile that He would prosper and not harm them, that He would give them hope and a future. What we conveniently forget is that the fulfilment of this promise involved 70 years of captivity and immense difficulties in a foreign land. God’s purpose in sending them into exile was not to harm His people but to purify them—which He did! He kept His promise: a remnant remained faithful to Him, and after 70 years they were permitted to return to Jerusalem. But if we understand this promise to offer a quick deliverance from all our present struggles and hardships, we are likely to be disappointed.
The Bible consistently reveals Yahweh as a covenant-keeping God, always acting in accordance with His word and character. This includes promises of forgiveness, salvation, and provision, as well as His unwavering presence in every situation.