"But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." —2 Thessalonians 3:3-5

I turned 40 this past week. To some that may seem old and to others it may seem young. But generally, the 40th birthday strikes us differently because it is usually in the middle of our lifespan. This over the hill moment left me pondering my life and its fruitfulness, or lack thereof...and to be honest, I began to become discouraged as I have been clearly reminded lately that some of the fruits of the Spirit do not appear very fruitful in my life. I became disheartened that I had not grown more in Christ and have not fully conquered certain besetting sins that run deep in my sin nature. I felt defeated, unfruitful and disappointed.

As I was wallowing in my own inadequacy and failure, the Spirit gently began to whisper as He has done so many times before. He began reminding me to look away from myself and toward what God has done in the gospel. In essence, He kindly directed my heart to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. He is faithful and was establishing me and guarding me against the evil one, who seeks to condemn (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

Through God’s word stored in the heart I began to remember that I had every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), that all the promises of God find their yes in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20), He will never leave me or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5) and I have a loving Father who will provide for all of my earthly needs as I seek first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33). As I looked back through the lens of the gospel rather than my own performance, I began to be filled with thankfulness as I recounted God’s faithfulness over the past 40 years. Had He ever let me down, or broken one of His promises and not provided for what I needed? No, He had blessed me beyond measure and I can abound in thanksgiving and rejoice in the Lord at all times (Colossians 2:7, Philippians 4:4). If you are in Christ, so can you!

God is faithful! May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.