Great is Thy Faithfulness

Hey Friends,

This week I had one of those days where I felt totally hopeless; totally lost and alone. You know what I mean?

         Thankfully I had enough sense to get out of this funk with some Jesus tunes. Driving home from work takes me about an hour, so for that hour I gave myself to the Lord to turn my attitude around. And boy did He ever. On of my favourite hymns is Great is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas Chisolm; so it is this song which I played on repeat for my hour-long ride.

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This song is based on the composer's favourite bible verse; Lamentations 3:22-23.

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness."

I read the story behind the song here; and would like to share a piece of it with you now:

      "While away from home on a missions trip, Thomas often wrote to one of his good friends, William Runyan, a relatively unknown musician. Several poems were exchanged in these letters. Runyan found one of Williams' poems so moving that he decided to compose a musical score to accompany the lyrics. Great is Thy Faithfulness was published in 1923.
       For several years ,the hymn got very little recognition, until it was discovered by a Moody Bible Institute professor who loved it so much and requested it sung so often at chapel services, that the song became the unofficial theme song of the college.
       It was not until 1945 when George Beverly Shea began to sing Great is Thy Faithfulness at the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades, that the hymn was heard around the world" 

This story is such a testimony to God's compassion and faithfulness during our times of struggle. This song composed in 1925 has truly stood the test of time and has become a timeless worship song for the followers of Christ.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 89:1)

        One of my favourite things about this song is that you don't have to be cured of a severe illness to appreciate the song's beautiful lyrics. You can simply look at creation and know that the God who saves is responsible for creating the whimsical clouds, the leaves falling from the trees and the rays of sunshine falling on your cheek.

Do you have a song that pulls you out of a funk? Please share, I would love to know!

blessings.

            It’s that time again! Time for buying presents at overcrowded malls, for holiday parties, for Santa & his elves, for holiday baking, and for get-togethers with friends & family. Christmas has got to be my absolute FAVOURITE holiday. It’s a time to remember all that we’re fortunate enough to have in our lives and to be thankful the birth of Jesus Christ.

In spite of remembering how blessed we truly are, why do we still tend to dwell on what we don’t have? Are you missing that ‘special someone’ in your life, your ideal job, that new electronic that you really want, good grades in school, that dream home? What is it in your life that makes you think “Yeah, my year was good, but it would be even better if God gave me ______”? It’s that feeling that everyone around you has a good paying job, name-brand clothing, a nice car, a boyfriend/girlfriend – has God forgotten about me? (It’s interesting to see that no matter what things God has blessed us with in our lives, we always like to turn it back to ourselves, and make us seem like the victim)

                A passage of scripture that has really been on my heart lately is Isaiah 40: 21-31. This passage speaks about the handiwork of God and the majesty of creation. But then, it goes into this section at verses 27 & 28 in which the Israelites are complaining that God has forgotten about them in their time of need.

²⁷O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
 ²⁸ Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
 He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

                I love reading this verse when I’m feeling like God has disregarded me, because it is a wonderful reminder that God is the man with the ultimate plan. We may not know what his purpose is, what He has in store for us, why He doesn’t allow us to have some of the things that we may think we need, but that’s where faith comes in. We need to have faith in His purpose; to believe that no matter what life has in store for us - past, present, future - it is according to His plan.


                So this Christmas season let's make a pact. Let's try not to dwell on the absence of desired things that we feel would make our lives better. Instead, let us rejoice in what we do have and all God has provided for us.


                What things has God blessed you with this holiday season?