Faithfulness of God

Lately I've been reading in the Old Testament. I have to admit that there are parts in the Old Testament that I have struggled with. There are parts that still don't make a lot of sense to me. But I've also come to learn that as I read scripture I can't always rely on my first thoughts. Instead, I need to really take a closer look and consider what I'm reading in light of the rest of Scripture in order to see the bigger picture of what God is saying and doing.

This week I've been reading in 1 Chronicles. To be honest, it doesn't start out very exciting - it's genealogy after genealogy after genealogy. As I made my way through these genealogies yesterday I thought, do we really need to know these names? How does a list of names change my life today (after all we believe that God's word is timeless and transforms our lives)? Then all of a sudden in occurred to me. Maybe it's important to see a list of unknown people. Usually when I think of the Old Testament I think of the big names -- Abraham, Joseph, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc. Obviously God used those people in remarkable ways, but perhaps we have the genealogies to remind us that God used many other people too, the forgotten ones whose names we don't even know how to pronounce. And, if God can use those forgotten ones to accomplish His extraordinary plans, then perhaps God can use me as well.

One more thought. Today in 1 Chronicles I came across the story of King David. David's life is talked about in a little more detail in 1 & 2 Samuel, but we see some of the story here again as well. David is a man that Scripture calls, "after God's own heart." We also know that David is the greatest king to ever sit on the throne of Israel. Yet, for so much of David's life, he was running for his life, or dealing with opposition, or living on the margins. And yet, from our vantage point we say that David was faithful to God and God was faithful to David. It struck me, that God is faithful even when the circumstances of life are less than ideal. However, how many times do we speak of God's faithfulness in our lives when things are going well, and we pray for God's faithfulness when things aren't going so well. God is faithful. Life's circumstances might change, but I am so thankful that God does not.