The Unfair Exchange

I’ve been focusing on steadfastness recently. The word “steadfast” appears 219 times in the Bible, and 132 of those times it is being used to directly describe one of the most beautiful characteristics of God.

Steadfastness is defined as firmly loyal, unchanging, unwavering, solid, steady and resolutely and dutifully firm. God never changes. He loves us loyally and never stops. Throughout the gospels we are charged multiple times by the apostles to “stand firm in the faith” and to be steadfast in our love for the Lord and in our loyalty to Him and through our work in the Kingdom. I think it’s such a common charge because we waver. Our loyalty and love are waves constantly crashing into the shores of this world and slinking back into the depths of His love, guilty and dirty, pulling the dirt and the sand with us.

Here we hit what I call the unfair exchange. God charges us to have the same characteristics as He does because we are sons and daughters, but we offer Him our sloppy, imperfect, minuscule, feeble attempts and in exchange we get His perfection. His perfectly unwavering and steadfast love. He knows ours won’t be perfect, He knows we are unfinished, but He still wants whatever our all is, whatever our 100% looks like. The reason the Widow’s offering meant so much to Jesus is because she gave her all. (Luke 21).

And despite our all not being much, or being tarnished or imperfect, it still touches the heart of the Father and He still gives us His perfect all in return. In fact, He gave us His part of the exchange first, while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). The unfair exchange. A wandering heart for His steadfast love. Our ashes for beauty. Our anxieties for His peace. Our offering for the riches of Heaven. Our everlasting life because of His suffering. The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair. His steadfastness is another lovely example of His grace.