Faithfulness

The other day an old friend (via text conversation) said, "Thanks for being faithful all these years." And I've been thinking about this sentence ever since. It was a nice thing to say, to be sure. A compliment, even. Nevertheless, even as I read it, so many thoughts ran through my head that I could hardly contain my fingers. I didn't respond with any of them. I only said, "And I appreciate your faithfulness, too."

But here's a bullet-point list of all the things I thought:

• Of course I'm faithful. 
• Or maybe I'm not faithful, I'm just in love with Jesus.
• But then there are all the times when I'm really NOT faithful.
• "Even when I'm faithless, You, God, are faithful." (2 Timothy, 2: 13, my paraphrase)
• And why should I be thanked for being what I'm supposed to be, anyway? Luke 17: 9-10 says, "Will He thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told do do, should say, "We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty." 

See, it's a whole lot to have tried to say in a text message. But the idea hasn't gone away because just this morning I had another conversation with a friend about wanting to know that our lives have counted for the Kingdom, when all is said and done. Because I'd been mulling this sentence around for a week, I was quick to say that most of the time we don't get to know that. We are asked to be His servants. To answer His call. To do our part in our corner of His Body. And we don't know what comes of that work, because it's His work. My friend said, "Of course, it's not about us, it's about Him. His glory." 

Exactly. 

His glory. 

We unworthy, unqualified, un-everything servants are privileged to serve the King of Kings. That's glory enough. Can you fathom this? Really, can you? He uses US to serve Him. What a crazy mixed up reality, where the weak and powerless (see the Beatitudes!) are the ones with all the power in the universe.

We pledge fealty to HIM and HIS power is ours. His everything is ours. 

So if we're faithful, it's only what we were supposed to be. He's the faithful one.

Still, I do long to be faithful. 

More tomorrow than today.