Steadfast

Written as part of the She Reads Truth #SheSharesTruth experiment

Read Psalm 130

Steadfast is not a word that we often use. I think the reason for this is that so few things in our lives are actually steadfast. Steadfast generally means fixed, firm, unwavering. In fact, in my dictionary app, the word “firm” is used in three of the five definitions: 1) firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, as a person 2) firmly established, as an institution or state of affairs and 3) firmly fixed in place or position.

God’s love is not going anywhere! It’s there. It’s steadfast. We may come and go in loving him, or in showing that we love him by following him. But at the end of the day, if/when we come to him (or come back to him, as the case may be), he’s there. But the thing is: he never leaves us. He is always there. We don’t escape him when we pull away. We don’t escape him when we sin. We don’t escape him when we lose a bit of ourselves to the world. We just escape feeling the love that is always there for us. We put a barrier between ourselves and God when we stop living like him that makes it hard for us to feel his love. But it’s not because the love lessens or goes away. In fact, there’s nothing that can shake his firm, fixed, unwavering love for us. But how can this be?

Because of his abundant, plentiful redemption. We know that, in our relationships, they don’t work if we aren’t willing to forgive. They just don’t. People aren’t perfect; and if we can’t forgive them, we don’t really love them. But God’s redemption is more than that. It’s more than us saying “sorry” and him saying “I forgive you”. Our understanding of God’s mercy and redemption is often limited to us having guilt, apologizing and getting an “It’s OK. I still love you” feeling.

But the redemption of our lives from sin and the resulting eternal death is SO MUCH BIGGER than this type of forgiveness. Redemption comes at a cost. When we redeem a coupon, the company that lured us to the store to buy their item had to take a hit to their bottom line for us to purchase said item. Our acceptance of their offer actually hurts them in some ways. But it’s worth it to them for us to have their product. And let’s be real: What God’s offering is SO MUCH BIGGER than anything we could ever redeem from any store on earth; and the cost to him – the sacrifice of his son Jesus – is so much greater. But it was WORTH IT to him. Because he loves us! And the awesome thing is: his redemption is there for the taking. It’s always there, just like his love. We have only to come to him, confess to him and let him in. He is always there, waiting, to make good on his offer to love steadfastly and redeem with abundance.