8 Ways We Know That God Is Faithful
“You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Psalm 16:11
One of the verses that I love to use with the teenagers is John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” I love to use it with our teens because I believe it illustrates the consequences of seeking after our own desires and it also shows the benefits of implementing God’s desires. One way leads to pain, death and destruction and one way leads to life and abundant life. One of the issues I run into however is my explanation of how to describe what the abundant life is. It is not a life free of pain or worry or difficulties. It is also not a prosperity type thing where we are rewarded for doing things a certain way. What I usually say is the abundant life is a life that is better because God is at the center of it. I think Psalm 16 could be a reference verse for John 10:10
John 10:10 says “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
Psalm 16:4a says “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply”
John 10:10 says “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Psalm 16:11 says “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
“In your presence there is fullness of joy, at your right hand there are pleasures forever more” This is the abundant life. It can only be found in the presence of our Creator. The author of Psalm 16 also saw this as a promise from a faithful God that if he chooses to seek after God then God will be faithful to provide, and his provision is a pleasurable and joyful thing.
In Malachi 3:10 God says “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” The ways of God are very often counter to the ways of our world. When you look at the ways of God sometimes it may be hard to understand how sacrifice, and self denial and many other things can lead to a life “full of joy and pleasure”. My response to you would be, “Have you tried it?” Have you, as the psalmist said, put God first in everything. I believe if we do, we will find that he is faithful, not to give us what we want, or to rid our lives of any sorrow but to provide for us a life that is rich and abundant because it is full of his presence.
Adam Deering