Remembering God’s Steadfast Love

I’ve done a lot of waiting in my life. I’m not referring to the little things like standing in line at the grocery store or sitting in the exam room wondering if that doctor is ever going to come in. I’m talking about the big waiting. This is the kind of waiting that goes on for weeks, months, and years, even decades. It’s remembering God’s steadfast love that has brought me through those times.

The Lesson Learned in the Waiting

At the end my sophomore year of college, I was preparing for a summer internship at my church. Everything was set with my course credits and the job responsibilities. The last hanging detail was a car. I didn’t have one and I didn’t have money to buy one. I had to have a car to get back and forth to the church and around town to do my job. Without a car, I’d lose my internship.

I had waited for weeks and weeks. Finally in what I’ve now found to be typical God style, He showed up in a big way just before the deadline. Not only did He provide a car for me, but I only paid $1 for it. At just 20 years old, I learned a very important lesson: God always provides and it’s never on my timetable or the way I expect.

That lesson has stuck with me over the years. I’ve waited for college tuition funding, new job offers, and cross-country moves. I’ve waited through depression, anxiety, and infertility. What I have found over and over again was this: God was always there and His answers were perfectly timed.

 

Remembering God’s Steadfast Love

One of my favorite Hebrew words is chesed. I’ve loved it since my college Hebrew professor first taught it to us. Maybe is was the way it sounded that first caught my attention, but it’s also the meaning that has made it’s way into my heart.

Chesed is used 246 times in 239 verses in the Old Testament. It’s usually translated love, kindness, mercy, favor, loyalty, loving-kindness, or steadfast love. Most often it is used to describe God’s unfailing love for His people Israel.

Have you ever noticed that it took the Israelites a few rounds to get what God was trying to tell them? They went through cycle after cycle of wandering from God, repenting, wondering if he’d deliver them, and then watching Him come through for them. Just look at Psalm 136. It’s a whole list of what God did for them over the years and the reminder that “His steadfast love endures forever.”

I’m just like the Israelites. I doubt and I wonder if God will come through for me. When I find myself wandering through this seemingly never-ending valley of depression or another circumstance where I must wait for God, I have to be reminded of what God did in the past. He has always come through for me. It’s never been in my timing or in the way I think He should provide. It’s always been in His perfect timing and in His perfect way.

I continually remind myself of who He is and what He’s done for me. When I’m waiting for God to show up or answer, I find myself clinging to God’s chesed, His steadfast love for me. No matter what the situation, no matter what the answer, God has a steadfast love for me that will carry me through anything.

Amanda Pelser is a former church communications director turned work-at-home(schooling) mom. She and her husband Josh live near Sacramento, California with their three boys. Amanda is using her BA in Bible and MA in Old Testament Studies to teach her boys, to encourage women at ThePelsers.com, help parents instill a love for God and their Bible in their kids at KidsintheWord.net. She has also written about her struggle with depression in Finding Joy in Depression.