Faithfulness is defined as the quality of being faithful; fidelity, lasting loyalty and trustworthiness, and true to one’s word.
Psalm 33:4 (ESV) – “For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.”
The question is not if God remains faithful. We have a whole theology that proves Him to be faithful, always. The debate lies in our depravity as man, and whether we are capable to be faithful towards the One who is ever so faithful to us.
Faithlessness or unfaithfulness is defined as changeable, cheating, doubting, fickle, untrue and wavering.
All these qualities I see in myself, daily.
To be honest, in studying this topic of faithfulness, I quickly realised that I am ‘just like Jonah.’
Jonah first appears in the book of 2 Kings, where he joins Elisha in prophesying restoration over Israel. Jonah has first-hand experience of the heartbeat of God, as he prophesies God’s mercy and grace over a wayward people.
2 Kings 14:27 (NASB) – “Yet the Lord did not say that He would wipe out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.”
However, Jonah quickly forgets God’s heart and when he receives a word from God consisting of a call to go to Ninevah and preach the good news, he flees.
Jonah 1:1-2 (CSB) – “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.”
God told Jonah to get up and go and, instead, Jonah avoided his divine assignment and
went down and departed to Joppa, hopping on a ship to go as far in the opposite direction from Ninevah as he could possibly have gone.
What is your Ninevah? What is your divine assignment?
Jonah shows us that running from God’s relational call on our lives is futile, and often laced with fear. But God calls us to be a faithful people. Fear is the number one tactic of the enemy, and it will always cause us to run from God. Faith is the currency of heaven, and when we walk in faith, it will always cause us to run towards God.
God cannot bless that which He has not ordained. But His favour follows those who are faithful to His ways and Word.
Jonah’s spiritual decline is depicted in his decision to go down and depart from God’s plan. Jonah eventually goes all the way down into the deepest, darkest part of the ocean, in the belly of a fish.
Jonah’s disobedience leads him to a deep bottom and dark mindset.
Jonah 2:2 (NIV) – “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
Our disobedience will land us in despair and darkness. The reality is that when life gets hard, we hide. We run to that which brings comfort and cradles our soulish desires. But God, in His grace, is calling us to return to Him, His ways and His Word, His purposes and plans for our lives.
When Jonah calls out to the Lord, the Lord rescues Him out of his despair. God’s grace pulls us out of the pit and puts us back on the right paths.
Jonah was the son of Amittai, which means ‘faithful is Yaweh.’ Jonah’s heritage charges him to be faithful, yet Jonah chooses to walk in disobedience. Our spiritual heritage charges us to be faithful, too. Will you choose to respond in obedience and faithfulness?
2 Timothy 2:13 (AMP) – “If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself.”
In the second half of the book of Jonah, we see Jonah repenting and responding in obedience, and a whole city is saved from destruction.
Jonah 3:1-3;5 (CSB) – “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you. Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.. Then the people of Nineveh believed God.”
Jonah’s faithfulness in preaching to the Ninevites demonstrates the principle that those whom God saves find deliverance in their faithful response to hearing the Word of God.
Luke 11:30 – “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.”
As I was writing this, I sensed that there is a spiritual cry over the earth, a beckoning of sorts that’s being sounded over every nation to return to the Lord. We were created for relationship with God. I then heard the sound of boots on the ground, the footsteps of the people of God, retuning to Him with their ears tuned into what He is saying, going forth with a mantle of power and with fire in their bellies, to proclaim His name here on earth.
I believe that this is God’s heart for every tribe and every tongue.
Will you choose to walk in faithfulness today?
Women Of Reverence welcomes Robynne De Wet as a guest blogger.
Hi! I’m Robynne. I am a Port Elizabeth born and raised small city girl. I moved to Cape Town with my husband nearly ten years ago. We have been blessed with three little girls, now aged 2,3 and 4. My husband and I serve on the eldership team at Red Harbour Church. I have known my King Jesus for 25 years and each year I grow to know and love Him more and more. I am passionate about Gods Word and I love writing about what God shows me through it. I write for my blog called Robynne Writes. Robynne Writes was birthed out of a place of longing to see women learn Gods Word, love Gods Word and live out Gods Word.