Confession Time...

Okay, time to come clean. I have this problem. Well, I have a lot of problems, but I think it might be best to just share one at a time. So here goes: I have very little follow-through when it comes to long-term projects.

This blog is a case in point. If you notice my last post was over a month ago. I made multiple posts a week for a while, but that didn't last long. I'll admit, I'm not terribly surprised.
True, I could tell you that I got sick shortly after my last post, and my schedule filled up fast when I got better as I was catching up on all that I missed the previous week, and I could add that I got sick again two weeks later, but honestly, the lapse was inevitable. It's one of the reasons I hesitated starting a blog in the first place: I knew my tendency to lose interest.

I have a journal tucked away in my bedside table. I started this journal as a girl (the first entry was dated January 9, 1995). It's still not full. This book is a sporadic chronicle of my young life. There will be a cluster of entries, then a long gap before the next entry, which usually consisted of me exclaiming about how long it had been since I had last written (I once made it nearly two years!). I have another journal, which I started in college. I wrote in it every day for almost two months (I was so proud of myself!), then never again. It's packed away in a box somewhere, I think.

It's not just journaling that I have trouble with. Like many people, my list of New Years resolutions fallen by the wayside is tragically long. I could fill one of my poor neglected journals with the habits I have failed to build! I take heart in knowing that I am not the only one who has trouble with this. I read that only 12% of people achieve their January 1st goals. If you want a musical example, just check out how many symphonies Schubert started, but never finished (no, it's not just the famous one!).

Long story short, I am a person, and people are inconsistent. As hard as we try, there will always be things we let slide. Even the most reliable person in the world will let you down if you give them long enough. We're human, and sometimes we fail, even with the best intentions.

I am so glad God is not human! Here is what the Bible has to say about His track record:

"God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?"
(Numbers 23:19)

"He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
(1 Samuel 15:29)

"He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he."
(Deuteronomy 32:4)

"The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness."
(Psalm 111:7-8 )

"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made."
(Psalm 145:13)

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."
(Malachi 3:6)

"If we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself."
(2 Timothy 2:13)

"he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 1:6)

Part of God's faithfulness is His refusal to give up on us. Philippians clearly states that God won't stop until He has taught us what He wants us to learn. He wants us to emulate his reliability:

"He gave them these orders: "You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD."
(2 Chronicles 19:9)

"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
(1 Timothy 4:15-16)

"We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
(Hebrews 6:11-12)

"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."
(1 Corinthians 4:2)

I don't know about you, but this all sounds a little intimidating to a girl who can't even write a blog post once a week. Thankfully, God is gracious and offers chance after chance to practice being dependable. Just like a good father, He gives us little things to be responsible for, and gradually increases the load as we are able to bear it.

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"
(Matthew 25:21)

Hopefully God can use this blog to teach me a little bit more about faithfulness...

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)