Never, never, never

"Change is the end result of all true learning." (Leo Buscaglia) As I listened to a gospel song the other day, I actually learned something. We use the word 'always' to describe God's faithfulness, but could it be that the better word we should use is 'never'? As in:

“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5) - we are never left on our own, to work out our own misery or find our own way in life.

"He will never give up on you. Never forget that." (I Corinthians 1:9) - we might feel like it is time to give up, but there is never a right time to give up or give in - God wants us to never forget that he isn't about to give up on us - no matter what.

"If we give up on him, he does not give up—for there’s no way he can be false to himself." (2 Timothy 2:13) - God can never be anything but what he is and that is faithful, loving, tenderhearted, and longsuffering.

"Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal; you never get voted out of office. God always does what he says,
and is gracious in everything he does." (Psalm 145:13) - we may try to deny he is present or that he is in control of our lives, but he never will violate one of his promises.

"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." (I John 4:16-18) - his love never fails and the hope his love gives us should never fail to lift our hearts. His love, resident within us, has no fear - only trust, hope, and freedom.

I could go on and on about God's 'never' promises, but I think you get the idea. We often think 'always' is the best way to describe his grace, but maybe the best way is to say 'his grace will never fail', 'his mercy will never be too far away', and 'his faithfulness towards us will never run dry'. Just sayin!