To Rely Begs a Question

Five-Minute Friday. Rely. You can rely in the reliable Creator God.

To “rely on” means there is trust based on truth. The truth either confirms or refutes that something or someone is reliable. Reliance then, is much like trust or faith. I rely on many electricity-enabled things in our home. My reliance is based on the reliability of those lights, my computer, the appliances or on the SimpliSafe security system we use for home security.

In August 2023 I preached a sermon at Memorial Baptist Church. Lamentations 3:22-24 was the main text. The text reads as follows:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore, I will hope in him.”

Reliable is Immutable

God’s Steadfast Love is Immutable

If something is reliable, it does not change. It is, to use a seldom heard word, immutable. When something or someone is steadfast, they are unchanging in quality, duration, purpose. That is what God is. God’s steadfast love is an unceasing love. It doesn’t burn out or dim over time. And it is unending in unchanging: “his mercies never come to an end.”

But it doesn’t stop there. His steadfastness makes him reliable every morning that I wake up. As the writer put it, his mercies are “new every morning.” It isn’t that they got old and needed to be renewed, they are perpetually new.

And so, my response to this wonderful news is therefore, “I will hope in him.” That is another way to say, “God, I rely on you.” You do not change, do you are reliable, and I can base my reliance on you for you are steadfast and eternal.

There are other scriptures that remind us of the reasons we can rely on God. They include:

Malachi 3:6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

This changes everything!

To rely is only possible if the object of our reliance is reliable.

How to Identify a Follower of Jesus

Lamentations 3:24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore, I will hope in him.”

They sing a new song The Steadfast Love of the Lord Worship Video

Another version from Shavah Music

Five Minute Friday

This post is part of the weekly Five-Minute Friday link-up.

Sermon from August 27, 2023 – Wayne L. Winquist at Memorial Baptist Church God’s Amazing Love Changes Everything

All scripture passages are from the English Standard Version except as otherwise noted.