Introduction
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines the word faithfulness as “deserving trust, keeping your promises or doing what you are supposed to do.” We say God is faithful because we can trust him to keep his promises and do what he is supposed to do.The passage I have selected for my sermon today speaks about a man named Isaac and how his whole life is a retelling of what happened to his father Abraham to whom God had promised to make him into a great nation. The lesson conveyed is of God’s continuing faithfulness.
Text: Genesis 26:1-32
(1) Not changed by our situations
Read Genesis 26:1-6(I) Isaac occupied the same land that his father Abraham did and famines were common in that land. Both had faced them.
(II) In Abraham’s time when the famine came he fled to Egypt. Isaac wanted to do the same but God stopped him and restated the blessing to his father.
(III) Just like his father Isaac assessed God’s faithfulness based on the severity of the famine. He did not know that God is not challenged by man’s situations.
(2) Not altered by our imperfections
Read Genesis 26:7-11(I) Isaac lied to the king for the fear of his life just like his father did. He believed in God. But he wasn’t perfect.
(II) God didn’t punish his imperfections. Rather He continued to bless Isaac as he promised to Abraham.
(III) God’s presence exposes our imperfections. But imperfections cannot alter his faithfulness.
(3) God’s faithfulness transforms us
Read Genesis 26:11-32(I) By now Isaac had learned the depth of God’s faithfulness. Like his father, Isaac had learned to letting of the earthly things.
(II) God appeared to Isaac and renewed the promise once again. For a third time it is said that the Lord would bless Isaac.
(III) Our knowledge of God’s faithfulness transforms our perception of the enemy. Their behavior doesn’t bother us because we know that God doesn’t change.
Conclusion
According to this passage how did Isaac see that God is faithful? In times of great crisis Isaac listened to God’s spoken word and obeyed whole heartedly. Secondly he observed everything that God did.In my personal life I have noted that God use times of great crisis to reassure me of his faithfulness. This is actually a life time of learning. Our feeble minds cannot fathom his faithfulness as a whole.
So how do we learn of his faithfulness? We remember his promise. We remember the good things he has done. We trust and obey him in every situation. When he responds (he surely does) we know that he is faithful.
Image: Margaret Almon
