God is Faithful

God is Faithful 

Growing up in Transylvania sounds like a crazy thing, but for me it wasn’t. It was just growing up. In 1998, when I was 2 years old, my parents and I moved from our small apartment in Long Beach, California, to the country of Romania. We lived in the city of Timisoara for about a year and a half while my parents did full-time language learning. We were then invited to what became our home church in the city of Sibiu, Romania. I spent most of the next 17 years growing up, learning, and serving there along with my parents and our church family. Everything felt very normal to me. On the surface, it was, but underneath, I had real questions about my faith and I didn’t have all the answers. 

The Problem 

My dad had gone to Seminary at Talbot and was passionate about studying the Bible. My mom knew her Bible well and prayed through every situation she encountered. They were (and still are) great examples to me throughout my growing up and they loved me to Jesus. I knew the right answers because I had been taught well. I could ace Sunday school quizzes and memorize Bible verses better than most. On the outside, everything seemed to be going well. On the inside, however, I was struggling. When I read passages like the unforgivable sin, I worried that I had already committed that sin, and was therefore condemned for eternity, without hope of salvation. I consistently questioned whether I was saved because I saw my sin and while I tried to repent, I found myself returning to my sin and not being able to break its power. My friends were asking really good questions about the validity of the Bible and my answers weren’t silencing those doubts. My Bible time sometimes felt dry and God felt distant. I would pray and ask God for help, but found my mind wandering. My head was full of questions and doubts but I felt like I really couldn’t open up to anyone about it because, after all, I was a missionary kid and I was supposed to have it all together. 

The Solution 

One day, when I was about 15, it all came to a head. The questions and worries were swirling in my head and the pressure I felt to be perfect was too much to bear. Thankfully, instead of going elsewhere, I went to my dad and broke down. I finally opened up about my struggles and told him the truth of both my sin and my doubts about my faith in Jesus. I told him that I was scared and that I craved assurance of my salvation. He patiently listened to me, empathized with where I was, and began to point me to Christ. It wasn’t that I hadn’t given my life to Christ, or that He wasn’t at work in my heart, but I hadn’t fully surrendered to Him as Lord of my life. He had been there all along, waiting for me to surrender to His will. He allowed my stubbornness and sinful patterns to lead to me to a place where I needed Him. So I reached out. He answered.  

God is Faithful  

God is faithful. When He makes promises, they will never be broken. In fact, the Bible says that when God makes promises He swears on Himself, for there is nothing higher on which to swear (Hebrews 6). His track record of keeping His promises is perfect. Not once has He failed to keep that which He has promised. God is worth fully and completely trusting. 

The truth of His faithfulness began to break the darkness and worry that surrounded me. I couldn’t see the next step out of all of my problems, but He showed me Himself. He promised that He would be enough, that He would satisfy my soul, and that He was strong enough to build my life back, based solidly on His promises. When I look back, I see God at work every step of the way. Of course it’s not always easy to see how God is working in the moment, and He never promises to show us the full picture, but in His promises we have everything we need for life and godliness. 

Through a bit of my story, I want to encourage you that God is faithful to keep all of His promises. His Word is full of stories of people who trusted in His promises and who lived full lives to the glory of God. My encouragement to you is to pray for your kids, and ask them how their walk with the Lord is going. If they have any questions about the Bible or about their faith, the home is the best place for them to feel safe to ask those questions. What a beautiful blessing it is to encourage one another to trust fully in God’s faithfulness. He will never fail! 

In Him, 

Daniel Cable