Moms have a way of saying exactly what you need to hear, even when you don’t really want to hear it.  

My mom did exactly that on one summer day about two months before my first year of college began. That year, as move-in day loomed closer, anxiety and sadness had been creeping into my heart like a slowly rising tide. I did not feel ready to move two hundred miles away, leave behind the friends and family who knew me and loved me most, and start again in a new place. Dreading the big changes, I came to my mom in tears one afternoon, seeking sympathy and comfort. I was ready for her to pat my back and tell me everything would be okay.  

She gave me something better instead.  

“I think,” she said after listening to me explain my fear, “You need to spend some time reminding yourself about God’s faithfulness.” She told me to go write down a list of things that God had brought me through in the past — all the big life changes, painful moments, doubts, lies, and sins that He had helped me overcome.  

And you know what? I was annoyed! Her response didn’t make me feel better — not at first. From the dark, fear-filled corner I was huddling in at that moment, I couldn’t see how that would help me. I was dealing with an uncertain future, so why would dwelling on the past help? 

In reality, that kind of clouded thinking was exactly why I needed my mom’s advice — because I wasn’t the one handling my uncertain future. God was, and it wasn’t uncertain to Him. While I was so fixated on everything in my life that was about to change, my mom knew I needed to grasp something that never changes: the faithfulness of our God.  

What Faithfulness Is — And Isn’t 

Now, hold on. As any good theology nerd will tell you, our limited earthly language can never perfectly capture the character of an eternal God. Words only go so far. So what does faithfulness really mean? 

Sometimes we use “faithful” to describe someone who doesn’t cheat on their spouse. Or we call someone a “faithful friend” if we know we can rely on her to stick around. The word conveys trustworthiness, reliability, and loyalty. We even call cars reliable when they get us where we want to go.  

But here’s the important distinction: all of those examples involve faithfulness to another person — a.k.a, a born-and-bred sinner with mixed-up desires, emotions all over the place, and a confused little brain that weighs less than a bottle of ketchup from Costco.  

That means faithfulness to a human’s wishes might not actually be good for them. A car can still be considered faithful, for instance, when it successfully transports us to T.J. Maxx for another shopping spree we can’t afford.  

God’s faithfulness is entirely different because it doesn’t rest on us at all. We should think of Him as being faithful not to our capricious demands, but to His own Word. This attribute of God is all about His commitment to His promises. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot deny Himself,” says 2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV). 

Grasping God’s Faithfulness 

Nothing in your life, no matter how insurmountable or dread-inducing it is, can render God unfaithful to His word. He cannot deny Himself. That means every promise He has given, all those beautiful passages in the Bible that declare God will love you, protect you, give you peace, and so many more, are already guaranteed. Not because we know how it all works, but because we know the One who makes it work.  

Sometimes God’s faithfulness is incredibly hard to grasp in the moment. I can name so many times I’ve peered down the road at the next life change ahead and said to God in my heart, “I know you’re good, but…?”  

God is constantly teaching me to re-surrender my fears and trust in Him. In those circumstances, I find it helps to remember Isaiah 55:9: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (ESV).  

We can’t fully comprehend the way God works out His promises, any more than we can predict the future or bring someone back from the dead. We’d be wiser to question our own limited perspective than to doubt the limitless Lord.  

Remember When God… 

I’m ashamed to admit I never took my mom’s advice that summer. Not for a long time, anyway. And here’s the funny thing: I had just started a blog, The Faithful Pages, where I published writings about Christian testimonies, and it was all about doing exactly what my mom recommended: reflecting on the ways God has been faithful to someone throughout their life.  

Over the past few years as I’ve sporadically listened to and written about believers’ stories, I have learned that the act of telling me their testimony has made it easier to answer the question, “How has God been faithful in your life?” 

 Often, their answers challenge me to look for the same evidence of His work in my own life.  

• “He’s faithful in exposing the lies that I believed in my old self,” said one young woman who God helped overcome mental health challenges.  
• “He was faithful to forgive me of all my wickedness that I lived when I was lost, and He has led my children– or let me lead my children–in the way that they should go,” said a father and grandfather who met Jesus later in life.  
• “How has He been faithful to me?”another woman reflected, “By not leaving me. By making Himself known to me, in my celebration and in my suffering. In that, every time I search Scriptures for His face, He shows it to me.” 

Practice Makes Praise and Praise Makes Peace  

I believe one of the most powerful ways we can teach ourselves about the faithfulness of God is to actively look for it in our own lives and in each others’. To reflect individually and together on the outworking of God’s promises in our stories.  

Journaling is one way to do that. I’m a big fan of writing out my prayers in a notebook and looking back to see how they were answered. But I understand that isn’t practical or exciting for everyone. Thankfully, our masterful God has created each of us with unique skills and interests, and there are so many ways to incorporate this practice into things you already do daily.  

Runners, challenge yourselves to think of one example of God’s faithfulness for every lap you take around the neighborhood. Artists, spark your next project after something He has done in your life. Coffee lovers, on your next trip to the cafe with your friends, ask them how the Lord has been faithful in their lives.  

The stronger our sense of God’s unwavering commitment to His promises, the stronger we will be when that next big thing comes threatening to shake our trust. 

This practice won’t make us perfect. Nothing short of Christ’s return or the end of our earthly lives ever will. But practicing recognizing God’s faithfulness, even when it seems unproductive or even counterintuitive — that’s worship. That’s praise. And according to Psalm 22:3, worship is where we will find God: “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (ESV). 

From dark and fear-filled corners, rehearsing responses to past prayers might seem like an insignificant little habit. But I’m telling you this (even if you don’t want to hear it): reflecting on God’s faithfulness is one of the best things you can do for your heart. Because that, my friend, is praise, and praise awakens us into the presence of God — the One who sits on the throne as our forever-faithful, forever-capable King.