Gott ist immer treu...

The title is German for "God is ever faithful." Or translated literally, "God is always true."

I learned of God's faithfulness while we were living in Switzerland. Our daughters attended the local school in the small community where we lived. Unfortunately, they weren't readily accepted and our oldest became a target of scorn and ridicule. There, they call it mugging. I find the term quite appropriate for what she endured.

The days of this torment stretched into weeks, then into months. I watched my bright, caring young girl become closed in and depressed. Never had I felt so helpless as a mother. Every avenue I pursued ended in a dead end, until I had no choice but to completely—and I mean completely—trust God with her well being.

That's when I began to learn of God's faithfulness. I knew the word in English, but in my small group, we spoke mostly German. I struggled to find the correct word to express to the dear ladies I prayed with. With a dictionary and comparing Scriptures in German to English, we descovered the German word for faithfulness is "treu."

Looks so similar to our English word "true," doesn't it? And that's its first definition—true. God is true. Our time in Europe wasn't easy, and I wouldn't want to go through it again, but the lesson learned is invaluable and one I've recently appreciated anew. Here are my observations.

• God keeps his word.
• He never vascilates.
• He is incapable of deception.
• He, above all people, can be depended upon completely.
• No one can promise me what He does.
• When I am at my worst, He remains by my side.
• And when things get bad, He's right there going through the muck with me.

Nothing, nothing, no thing can take his love from us, nor his truth. He is truth so there can be no separation. He is the one and only perfect truth in this world. Even after several years, the German translation is the one that comes to me first. I find that so fitting, because that's when I truly learned of God's faithfulness.

Circumstances recently played a scary hand for my family and me. Amazingly, it was the time in Switzerland that gave me the strength I desperately needed. I knew no matter what, my daughter would be okay. God had her in his hands. And He had me. All I had to do was trust what I knew to be true.

Gott ist immer treu. God is ever faithful.