Fidelity is foremost about my faithfulness to God. What does that look like in my journey? It’s not that God can depend on me to do the work for Him, but that He will be free to do His blessing work through me.
I have a dear friend who has four large rescue dogs. Whenever she goes out of town, she trusts me to dog sit for her. My joy comes from following her specific instructions in tender-loving care of her fur babies. It is not up to me to decide willy nilly how to feed and care for them. I would not be welcomed by her dogs if I disregarded their “mom’s” wishes.
Yes, this is an extremely simplified example of what fidelity looks like. Nevertheless, the story metaphorically answers the question, can I be trusted to carry out instructions to bless others, or do I blatantly chart my own course and wonder why the intended beneficiaries are not receptive?
Sometimes I treat God like a vending machine; if I put in the time, then I can just pull the lever and expect an out-pouring of entitled blessings! Yes, my relationship with God is a give and take relationship. However, it is not transactional like a vending machine!
We’ve been freed from the equational restrictions of the laws of the world into the emancipating relationship with our heavenly Father based on fidelity. I can trust that He will do His work through me in order to bless others. My own personal blessing comes from being the conduit, not the conductor.
My prayer is, “Father, don’t give up on me. I do trust in you. You can count on my fidelity.”
Today’s picture of a faithful male cardinal feeding his mate is graciously submitted by my childhood friend, Nasheed Dalleh, a photographer extraordinaire! Nature shows us each day perfect pictures of what fidelity looks like. Thank you Nasheed for this remarkable photo.
Do I mimic the world’s transactional idea of fidelity or do I trust God unconditionally?
Love and fidelity have come together;
Justice and peace join hands,
Fidelity springs up from the earth,
and justice looks down from heaven.