Faithful. Today, will you be faithful. God was up all night lining up opportunities for you in this day. Will you be faithful with those opportunities? Or will you be too busy? Will you be distracted? What will you do with the opportunities which come your way today?
And how about your commitments? Will you be faithful with that which you said you would do on this Monday? Did you wake up when you said you would, or did you bargain with your own self and decide your commitments weren’t important afterall? Oh how often we say we will do something, then we talk ourselves right out of it. And how does that feel at the end of the day? Pretty crappy, huh?
Every single day we are being called to be faithful and we’re being continually tested. Did you know the little nudge in your heart to give a compliment to that stranger was a test? Did you know the cashier’s mistake in your bill was a test? Did you know that which went wrong yesterday was a test. And that which went RIGHT yesterday was a test.
How have you been doing? Have you proven you will do the right thing? Have you proven you will be kinder than necessary? Have you proven you will be grateful for even the smallest of things? Or have you failed? I know it’s painful to admit our own shortcomings, but let’s be honest here. Are you passing the test of faithfulness?
As a Christian, God’s spirit is living in you. His spirit comes bearing gifts which we also call fruits of the spirit.
Galatians 5:22 says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.”
Yes, faithfulness is a God’s gift to you as he dwells in you and guides you. And what do you do with a GIFT? You receive it.
Since the day you accepted Christ, the gift of faithfulness has been offered to you. It’s not something you have to cultivate on your own. It’s simply something you have to accept. Imagine God gave you a new coat. The coat is yours to wear. Now how silly would it be to walk around freezing when God has given you a coat and all you have to do is put it on. The same is true for the ability to be faithful. You can be constant. You don’t have to be wishy-washy any longer. You can show up when you said you would and do what you said you would do. That ability is within you. You can take every opportunity and run with it. You can fulfill your commitments with ease. It’s just like putting on that coat. God has offered you faithfulness, now put it on.
You don’t have to go through one more day of your life disappointed in your own follow through. You don’t have to be disheartened by your ability to show up. You have the gift of faithfulness. You have it, now use it.
Is this an area of struggle for you? Do you begin the day with good intentions and just talk yourself right out of doing these good things? Do you often come to the end of the day with more regrets than successes? Well today, my faithful sister with the spirit of God living in you … today you’re going to be different. Hour by hour, simply remind yourself to be faithful. Remind yourself to tap into what the spirit of God has already given you.
When do you typically fall off the wagon in the day? Is it mid-morning when you get a little lazy? Is it lunch time when you typically fail on your commitments? Is it evening time when the opportunities to live as the woman you most want to be are quite simply squandered? Or perhaps it’s all above? Okay, fair enough.
Here’s our plan of action. Set an alarm in your phone for those times when you have proven to hop on the struggle bus in the past. You know, there’s typically a schedule for the struggle bus. When does it pull into your neighborhood? Set an alarm with the title “Just Be Faithful”. When the alarm rings, remember to just be faithful.
Look around at the opportunities God has given you in that moment. Be faithful with those opportunities. Remember your commitments. Be faithful with those commitments.
Hour by hour today, will you be faithful? Will you use the gift which God has already given you? Will you tap into your faithfulness and put it into action today?