The Trustworthiness of God

 In a world of suffering, can it be said that God is trustworthy? Every day 1,700 people will die in the U.S. of cancer. Many, if not most of those people, either prayed for healing or someone who knew them prayed for healing. Still 1,700 die. Millions are diagnosed with Alzheimer's each year. It is a very cruel disease. 116,022 people died of this disease in 2024. Prayers were offered and thousands upon thousands died. 

There are people starving and living below the poverty line in the U.S. 36 million to be exact. Add to that another 17 million living in deep poverty. How many pray for provision. Pray for the next meal. They plead with God to help and yet children cry themselves to sleep in hunger pangs. Like a man once told me, "Sometimes I just have to eat sleep." 

In all of that suffering, can it be said that God is trustworthy? O, I know that is easy to say. Can it be defended to those hurting and hopeless? That is the point. I know God's word declares that He is faithful in [I Thess 5:24]. The word faithful in that passage can be translated trustworthy also. Is that true? 

I admit approaching this topic with bias. I'm a preacher and author constantly pointing people to God and His word. Would I still believe God is trustworthy if I did not write religious material or did not preach? Many think my views are slanted because that is my job. Not so. I decided long ago to set out to prove the Bible true by living by faith and standing on the promises of God. It has not been an easy road. It has been an adventurous one. If it weren't true, if God was not trustworthy I would have walked away. He has proven Himself trustworthy to me and my family. 

I do believe God is trustworthy. Here are my reasons why:

1. I believe the stories in scripture and the promises are true. [II Tim 3:16]

2. I have tested scripture promises in the laboratory of life and found God  trustworthy repeatedly. 

3.I've read biographical and autobiographical accounts where others testified of God's trustworthiness in their lives and ministries. 

4. I have ministered to people in intense sufferings. Some were facing death due to incurable disease. I have witnessed many of those people face their suffering and death valiantly and triumphantly. They found something mor substantive in God than earthly comfort. People battling incurable diseases facing impending death hang onto something real. They found God real. They found Him trustworthy. I tend to listen to them and put great stock in their witness. 

Let's get real. There is a lot of suffering people in the world. Where is God? Why doesn't He fix it? Tap the brakes. This is not the plan God had originally. Go back to Genesis. God created a perfect world. Adam and Eve opted for temptation and ate the forbidden fruit. The consequences of that act has followed us to this day. You hate cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and all the others. Don't blame God. He didn't choose this for us. We chose sin. I say we chose it because we are still choosing it. The curse of sin brought along with it suffering and death. 

Even with that in mind, God is trustworthy in that He sent Jesus to take the punishment for people's sin. It is totally illogical. Perfection suffering for imperfection. Sinlessness dying for sinners. This world of suffering is the best heaven people who do not follow Jesus will ever experience. On the other hand, this world is the worst hell Christians will ever experience. For anyone who repents of their sins and asks Jesus for deliverance and rescue, everlasting life awaits. God will prove Himself trustworthy as we are ushered into eternity. 

I don't always understand the ways of God. [Is 55:8-9] I have learned to trust Him over and over again. Even in the hard times and the confusing times. He has come through time and time again. Even when I stood at the graveside of my mother in 1998 the day after Mother's Day and years later Brenda's mother. I put His trumpet to my mouth to sound forth the anthem that God can be trusted. 

People Matter

 I met a lady who worked as a janitor at a private school. She told me she was one of the invisible people who worked for the school. Her comment made me think she did not feel valued by her employers. I learned a valuable lesson that day. I want to value people. No matter their background. No matter their economic status or social standing. People are created in the image of God and have intrinsic value based on that truth. 

People matter. The waitress and the waiter matter. The student and the surgeon matter. The mechanic and the machinist matter. The cook and the computer analyst matter. People working at the drive through have value. The elderly have value. So many churches use the older members of the congregation for their money, but are discarded much of the other times. People matter. It matters how we treat people. 

Read accounts of how Jesus treated people. He touched the leper in Matt 8:1-3 that others shunned. He helped the woman with blood issues in Mark 5:25-34 that others kept at arm's length so as not to be considered ceremonially unclean. Jesus helped demon possessed Mark 5:1-20, crippled, paralyzed , blind, and even ate with sinners. Jesus made time for children and was not annoyed by their appearance. Jesus loves the outcasts. He welcomes the addicts. He accepts the immoral. He calls them to repentance and to turn to Him for salvation. Jesus even said the sick need a physician and not those that are well. Sinners need a Savior. Jesus loves people and they matter to Him. Therefore, they should also matter to the church. 

Churches can fall into the trap of just counting nickels and noses. People matter far beyond what they contribute in the offerings and adding to attendance figures. God created them with purpose. People created in the image of God with eternal souls. Many of those souls are lost and far from God. We should not be surprised when sinners act like sinners. We should applaud their courage when the muster enough to walk into one of our worship services or studies. They should be welcomed and loved to Jesus. 

People can get reputations. Some of them are bad. The only thing faster than track teams is small town gossip. People pile on when others fail and are down. Instead of pulling them up. We can push them further down. A recent survey reported that 70% of people are open to Jesus and have a favorable opinion of Him, but only 30% feel the same way about the church. This is a travesty. People matter to God and they should matter to the church also. They should matter to each of us. 

There are no invisible people with Jesus. He sees us all. There are no insignificant people with Jesus either. He loved people enough to die for them. See John 3:16 and Romans 5:8. People matter to God. We matter to God. You matter to God wherever you find yourself in life.