What the Holy Spirit thinks

Faithfulness (and my recognition of it) is a recurring theme for me lately. Our move to Austin was in enormous reliance in God's faithfulness. From jobs, to housing, to community, He moved in big ways. And now that we're here, settled, with a wonderful church, encouraging community, and good jobs, I catch myself thinking, so how is God being faithful now? How soon do I forget:

In all seasons, His faithfulness is not in response to my faithfulness (or lack thereof) — despite my faithlessness, He is is faithful.

• Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Romans 3.3
• The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3.23
• He who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5.24

That third verse is a simple, powerful statement. There is no argument—his faithfulness is a character trait, it cannot be swayed by the fickleness of His children.

Just because we stop noticing His faithfulness doesn't mean He stops being faithful.

Several days ago, I had the chance to catch up with a really good friend from high school (and her husband!) who are currently serving as missionaries in South Africa and the surrounding African countries. During our video chat, we talked about life and God's faithfulness. I mentioned a few things I've been wrestling with, namely the temptation to allow doubt to determine my identity, and not to remember who I am as a child of God, and that He has His hand on me here in Austin.

I cannot begin to express just how encouraging to me they are. What Kyra and Daniel said (more or less) was this:

When you are tempted to find your identity in things of this world, have the Holy Spirit tells you what He thinks— this restores your identity in Christ —it restores who you are in Him. There's a big difference in telling yourself something and and letting God tell you something.

I pray you are as encouraged by this truth as I was. In light of Good Friday and the coming resurrection of Jesus, I pray we'd look beyond ourselves to see how His  identity defines our own, as followers of Christ. And I pray that when we're overwhelmed by our own definitions of ourselves, that we'd be in the habit of asking the Holy Spirit who He thinks we are.