"a heart found faithful"

“You found his heart faithful to you” Neh. 9:8

This is what was said about the Father of our faith Abraham by others many years after his death. The declaration was that God found his heart faithful. Did God find his heart perfect? No. But in the end, when his life was summed up, he was found faithful. His life was faithful was because his heart was faithful.

What does it mean to have a faithful heart? This is the question I am asking myself this morning. When you look at the life of Abraham you see an ordinary man with hopes and dreams just like anyone else. When he meets God he is told to pick up and move his entire life to another land that he has never seen before. (Try pulling that off with your wife fellas) Along the way God reveals a plan to use Abram to become a blessing to the entire world. God makes promises to Abram. In the promises are those things that most men would dream of: a son, land of his own, and wealth.

What God did not tell Abram and Sarah was the time table he was working on. It would be many many years before God would fulfill His promise. Abram and Sarah would struggle through life seeking to stay anchored in what they believed God had said to them.

There were times when Abram’s character was still in development that Abram was dishonest and manipulative. There were times when they became impatient not seeing things come together and they tried to make things happen on their own.(it got messy I might add) I imagine there were times when they had to fight off waves of unbelief wondering if they were crazy or if God really had spoken to them at all. Abraham had to wait until he was an elderly man to see it all come to pass but in the end, God delivered on every one of His promises.

What made Abraham’s heart faithful was his choice to live his life in light of what God had said. Even though there were moments or even seasons where he may have looked off track, his heart would always return to those things that God had promised. His heart would return to God time and time again over his long life. Eventually he found what all who trust in God find-God is faithful. He does not lie to us. Nor does He change his mind. By the end of Abraham’s life his faith grew strong, and in this he honored God.

In Abraham’s final test, he became absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised-even raise the dead. Upon God’s request, he offered his promised son Isaac as a sacrifice. God established Abraham’s faithful heart that day. And because of Abraham's faith, God declared him to be righteous. He found his heart faithful. Not perfect but faithful.

How about you? Have you allowed God to show you your future? Is your heart trusting in God’s promises today? Are you struggling to believe? Are you thinking about trying to make some things happen on your own? I want to encourage you to stay with God. Anchor your heart to Him no matter what. Stay connected. Discover the promises in His word that are made to you. Let Him excite your heart about your days ahead. Choose to live your life in light of what God says and one day God will say, “I find your heart faithful”.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD,” Jer. 29:11-14