Faithful Because He is Faithful
I remember receiving one of the most meaningful gifts I could have been given upon graduating from seminary. A couple in my home church gave me a beautiful wooden plaque with one of my favorite Bible verses on it, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24 KJV). I had never shared with them how much that verse meant to me, and I knew it was a special encouragement from the Lord as I was about to enter my first ministry a few months later.
For the past 20 years, in two different ministries and three different offices, that plaque has hung on my wall. Sometimes I walk past it without giving it much thought, and other times I sit and reflect upon its message. Regardless, I have seen time and time again how this verse holds true. Through the thick and the thin, God has kept His promise of faithfulness. While my idea of what faithfulness should look like may not always match what He sees fit, His faithfulness abounds nonetheless and stirs me to seek to be faithful to Him. Allow me to share three reflections regarding this great faithfulness of God that I pray will encourage you in your life and ministry:
God is Faithful Because That is His Character.
God does not simply display faithfulness to us, but He Himself is faithfulness. We define faithfulness based on who God is. Faithfulness is His very nature (Deut 7:9; 1 Cor 1:9; 2 Cor 1:18). As 2 Timothy 2:13 tells us, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself.” For God not to be faithful means that He would no longer be true to Himself. Pastor, church leader, Christian, have you been doubting the consistent faithfulness of God? In a culture where people are fickle, opinions change, and circumstances let you down, look to God as the ever-present refuge in which you can confide (Ps. 46:1). No matter how “rural” you are, how unseen you feel, or misunderstood you have become, God is faithful.
God is Faithful in the Whole of Your Life.
Just as God is wholly faithful, so He will be faithful to the whole of you. The context of 1 Thessalonians 5:24 is not that God will simply make your problems disappear, make unruly church members suddenly repent, or cause multitudes to come flocking through the door of your church. This is a promise that the same God who called you to Himself will complete the spiritual work He started in you. He will “sanctify you completely” for the purpose that “your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 23). Now that is faithfulness! In a passage full of instructions (vv. 12-22), Paul grounds everything he just commanded in the confidence of God’s inner working and enabling. God will finish what He started in you. It may not feel like it in the moment, but that is a promise for every one of His children. He who “called…will do.”
Rural ministry is not an end in itself. Rural ministry is a means to an end — the glory of God in you and through you. He is performing (“doing”) a sanctifying work that will far exceed any temporary discomfort. That is a promise you can hold no matter what your circumstances look like or how your current ministry continues or ends. Trust the work of your faithful God. Do not lose heart.
God is Faithful in Each Task.
As we look not just to the big picture but to the ordinary, everyday tasks of life and ministry, we also find God’s faithfulness. The gentle winds of renewal and encouragement that we receive in His Word for the day, the sound of our children’s laughter reminding us of our primary flock, or even the small words of encouragement from church members or friends that we often look past in light of the “bigger issues.” God is in those things. He reminds us of His behind-the-scenes, daily faithfulness in so many ways. Give each detail to Him. Every problem, conversation, struggle, rough meeting, or difficult situation. He cares about them all and stands ready to teach you more of Himself (Matt. 11:28-30).
It was many years ago that I received the plaque that continues to hang on my office wall. As I think through the many discouragements, difficult conversations, struggles, joys, and blessings that I have experienced in rural ministry, that gift is but a token of the timeless truth of the verse which it proclaims, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” I have learned that I can be faithful only because He is faithful. May each of us carry on in the confidence which only He can provide because He is at work in all things.
Adam Pereira
Adam served as Associate Pastor of Covington Baptist Church (Covington, PA) for 6 years before becoming senior pastor in 2014. He was born in Valparaiso, Indiana but lived the majority of his life in Florida. He was raised in a pastor's home and was saved at an early age. In junior high, Adam sensed a calling to the pastorate and pursued that calling. The focus of his ministry is that others may know the wondrous grace of God in all its fullness and for all of life. This passion is summed up by His life verse, "To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8). Adam has been married since 2005 to his wife Rachel and together they have 4 children.
