1. Faithfulness Triggers Trust

Consider the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. A rich man gives his servants talents to steward. The servant with five talents returns with ten, and the master says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." The servant with two talents returns with four, and receives the same response: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Notice something crucial: it is not about the amount. It is about the faithfulness. God is not looking at what you are faithful over; He is looking that you are faithful.

From this story, we learn several lessons:

Everything belongs to God. Your paycheck, the house you live in, the car you drive, the opportunities you have—everything belongs to God. We are merely stewards. Deuteronomy 10:14 says, "The highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God."

God has given us something we are expected to steward. Every one of us here, even the breath in your lungs, the seconds in your day—everything you have received, you are expected to steward.

God will ask for an account of our faithfulness. He wants to know what you did with your day, with your hour, with your money, with your talent, with your influence. He wants to know.

God rewards faithfulness—not intentions, but actions. God does not reward desire; He rewards discipline. You may want to do it, but faithfulness is how long you actually keep doing what you started doing.

Unfaithfulness leads to loss of custody of God's resources. In Matthew 25:28-29, the master orders: "Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver... to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing with what little they have been given, even what little they have will be taken away."

God is looking for faithful people to trust with more. If you are not faithful to tithe from a thousand, why would God give you ten thousand? If you cannot manage two zeros, how would you manage three? Your faithfulness now determines what God will entrust to you next.

2. Faithfulness Prospers

Proverbs 28:20 says, "A faithful man will abound with blessings." Faithfulness triggers not just trust but also blessings and promotion.

Matthew 24:45-46 says: "Who then is a faithful and wise servant? It is one that his master has placed in charge of other servants to give them their food at proper time. How happy that servant will be if the master finds him doing this. Indeed I tell you the master will promote him."

Consider the story of Joseph. He was faithful to his father, running errands for him. He was sold into slavery but remained faithful in Potiphar's house, so Potiphar made him overseer of the whole house. He went to prison but remained so faithful that he ran the prison. God trusted him to become prime minister of the greatest civilization of his time.

It was all faithfulness—wherever he was: in his father's house, in Potiphar's house, in prison, and finally as prime minister. Faithfulness leads to promotion. Faithfulness leads to increase in your sphere of influence. Faithfulness leads to favor.

Genesis 39:4 says, "Joseph found favor, and the master made him overseer over the whole house."

Most of us are asking for more when we have done nothing or not done the most with what God has already given us. We ask, "Bless me, bless me, bless me." But what have you done with the last blessing?

When we launched The Well Church on January 20th, 2022, we had 418 adults. We were excited, though few compared to what we expected. But then the number actually decreased to 148 adults. God was watching to see what we would do when we had less, to see how faithful we would be. It is our faithfulness that has led us to the point where there are now more people in a single service than on that launch Sunday. On Easter Sunday this past year, almost 1,700 adults alone came to church. And that is all because of faithfulness.

So if you are asking for a new job, ask yourself: How faithful are you with the job you have now? If you are asking to get married, ask: How faithful are you in your single life? Faithfulness in this season is a test, and your faithfulness now triggers God promoting you to the next season.

Faithfulness is the hard path that leads to the soft life.

3. Faithfulness Protects

Daniel chapter 6 shows us how faithfulness protects us. Daniel is made a governor, but the other governors plot to bring him down. The Bible says in Daniel 6:4: "Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for a fault in the way that Daniel was handling government affairs, but they could not find anything to criticize or condemn. Why? He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy."

What if that was your testimony in your office—that someone searching for a way to trouble you could find nothing because you are faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy?

The only way they could fault Daniel was through his faith, his worship, his dedication to God. They convinced the king to make a decree that for 30 days, nobody should worship any god except the king. Daniel hears this law, and what does he do?

Daniel 6:10 says: "And when Daniel heard that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down, as usual, in his upstairs room with his windows open towards Jerusalem. And he prayed three times a day just as he had always done."

Faithfulness is staying the course no matter the obstacle. Faithfulness lives outside the realms of feelings, facts, and figures. We sometimes behave as if God doesn't know how we feel. And that is the reason we stop doing what we are supposed to do because of how we feel.

Faithfulness is a decision and actions—backing actions to honor the word that you gave. When we honor our word and our promise and are faithful to God, we can trust God to be faithful.

Daniel is thrown into the lion's den. The Bible tells us he sleeps better there than the king who threw him in. He trusts God to be faithful to protect him. Most of us panic when there is shaking or rumor. The real reason we cannot trust God to be faithful is because we know we have not been faithful in our hearts.

Here is the lesson: It is easier to be faithful in a den of lions if you have been faithful in a room by yourself. It is easier to be faithful in a relationship if you are faithful with your phone. It is easier to be faithful with a pay raise if you have been faithful with the one you received before that. It is easier to be faithful in a vulnerable situation on a business trip if you have been faithful at home.

Faithfulness in the small things graduates us, and then God triggers protection. When God begins to protect us because we are faithful to Him, He can be faithful to us.

4. Faithfulness Deepens Our Relationship with God

Numbers chapter 12 tells of a conflict between Moses and his siblings, Miriam and Aaron, who claim to be prophets too. God intervenes and says in Numbers 12:6-8:

"Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I make myself known to them in a vision. I speak to them in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. I speak to him face to face."

Your faithfulness deepens your relationship with God. Some of us want a divine encounter—we want God to send an angel to appear in our room. But have you read the Bible in that same room? Have you prayed in that room? Have you worshiped there?

When you say, "Lord, show me your face," God says, "Open the Bible. Let's start there. Let's start with reading that for 10 consecutive days." When you ask for God to move in power, He says, "Read your Bible. Go to church every Sunday. Let's start with that."

Deeper relationship comes through faithfulness: faithful with your daily devotion, faithful with your daily prayer, faithful with daily worship, faithful with daily reading of the Word, faithful with serving with your gifts.

God does not speak to be ignored. God speaks to be heard and obeyed. God will not waste His breath consistently on somebody who chooses to ignore Him. God will wait for a whole generation to expire to find somebody who will listen and obey. That is how faithful He is.

How to Practice Faithfulness

God is not asking you to be faithful on your own strength. God is asking you to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit on your heart to be faithful.

Practice with small things. Luke 16:10 says: "If you are faithful in little things you will be faithful in large ones."

• Wake up when you said you were going to wake up
• Sleep when you said you were going to sleep
• Eat what you said you were going to eat and no more
• Spend what you said you were going to spend
• Serve how you said you were going to serve
• Give how you said you were going to give
• Be what you said you were going to be

Faithfulness in the small things leads to trust in greater things. Start by being faithful to the past promises and vows you have made, especially faithfulness to the vows you have made to God.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 warns: "When you make a promise to God, don't delay in following through for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to Him. It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it."

Promises and vows are expressions of our consecration. They must cost you something. You declare the cost ahead of time: "It will be painful, but I am going to wake up by 5. I am going to pray every day." Faithfulness cannot be measured if the goal was not set. Do not avoid making commitments thinking you are being wise. You are not; you are dealing with God.

Ecclesiastes 5:6 continues: "Don't let your mouth make you sin and don't defend yourself by telling the temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake... that would make God angry."

Practice faithfulness in your present company. Are you faithful to your family, to your friends? As a husband, as a wife, as a child, as a friend, are you being that kind of person according to the Word of God—submitting, leading, laying down your life, loving?

Practice faithfulness in your present occupation. Luke 16:12 says: "If you are not faithful with other people's things, why should you be entrusted with things of your own?" Colossians 3:22-24 says to work as if working for the Lord. Most of us say, "When I start my business, I will wake up by 5 every day." But if you do not wake up by 5 for another person's business, why do you think you will when it is your own? If you are not faithful on this level, it will be difficult to be faithful on the next.

Practice faithfulness with money. There is nothing that alienates a man from God like money. There is nothing that expresses the dedication of a man to his God like money. Our allegiance to God is expressed through our money.

Matthew 6:21 says: "For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." Luke 16:11 says: "If you are untrustworthy with worldly wealth who will trust you with true riches of heaven?"

Every time you get paid is a test. Money will play a crucial role in the days ahead. The countries and economies of this world will try to dictate how we relate with our money. If we do not learn how to be faithful early, it will become very hard very soon. We must learn how to trust God and be faithful, and that starts with practicing faithfulness with money.

Practice pushing past feelings. One of the ways to practice faithfulness is to take advantage of every opportunity to push past the way you feel.

My year began very rough. I was sick and in the hospital. By the time I recovered and went through treatment, my cardiovascular health was severely damaged. My endurance was poor. So I knew I needed to go walking and running to regain my health. I went outside, and I started to run. Ten steps in, my heart was pounding, I had a metallic taste in my mouth, my thighs were itching, my legs were heavy, and my whole body was telling me to stop.

But I knew that in order to regain my stamina and endurance, I had one job: Don't stop running. It might hurt. Don't stop running. It might be very painful. Don't stop running. Everything in you wants to stop, to quit. Don't stop running.

You don't know how God is going to come through. You don't even see what God could do. One job: Don't stop running. This church thing is not working. Don't stop running. This serving God thing is not working. Don't stop running. This reading your Bible thing, waking up early in the morning when your mates are sleeping and you are out here praying—don't stop running.

Don't stop running when he does not appreciate it and she does not appreciate it. Don't stop running when the tithing thing is not working. Don't stop running when serving is not working. Don't stop running. Don't stop going to church when Pastor said come by 11 a.m. and you are in week seven. One job: just keep running.

That is how you gain faithfulness. That is how you build reputation with God. That is how you build promotion with God. That is how you build abundance with God.

Feelings are thermometers, not thermostats. They tell me how I am feeling right now, but they do not determine what should happen. Feelings are real, but they do not determine my faithfulness. Faithfulness must advance beyond the realm of feelings and facts and figures.

You might say, "Pastor, you don't understand. I am the only person doing this. Nobody is helping me." I understand that is a fact. But your faithfulness has to transcend that fact. It hurts. It is painful. But God is asking, "Can you keep running even when it hurts?"

A Challenge and Confession

Make a short list of three things you are going to get faithful at between now and the end of the year. These are three things you are telling God you are going to do. For some of you, God is calling you to use your gifts to serve. For some of you, it is going to be waking up. For some of you, He is calling you to be kind to somebody who is not kind to you. Make a short list of three things.

Also, whenever you have an opportunity to push past your feelings, practice it. You do not feel like it? Just do it. Go that extra step. The Bible says if somebody calls you to go one mile, go two with them.

Let us make this confession together to cement what we have learned:

After showing me, I bear the fruit of the Spirit. I bear the fruit of faithfulness. I am faithful in small things and big things. I am faithful with what is mine and what isn't. I am faithful to God, those closest to me, and in everything I do. I am faithful beyond my feelings. I am faithful beyond every obstacle I face. I reap the rewards of faithfulness. God trusts me more and with more because I am proven faithful. God promotes and protects me because I am faithful. I enjoy favor with God and man because I am faithful. I have the nature of God in me. I am as faithful as my heavenly Father.