God Is Faithful…to Me!

By: Bethany Hawkins

Are you in a season of life where everything is hitting you at once? Maybe you are struggling to care for aging parents and your children, or you lost your job and had a car accident on your way home. Sometimes we have days, weeks, or years that are more than we can handle.

Several years ago, I had one of those days. I woke up in the middle of the night with chest pain. My husband took me to the ER while our kids went to school. It was my daughter’s first day back after a tonsillectomy. The ER doctor determined I was having a gall bladder attack, but it was not bad enough for emergency surgery. As he was preparing paperwork and orders for me, I got a call that my father, who was in assisted living with dementia, had fallen. He was ok, but they wanted me to stop by. I explained the situation and they said, “Never mind, we can handle it.” Within just a few minutes, I received another call that my daughter wanted to be picked up because she was having pain and needed medicine. Then (I promise I am not making this up) the school called back. My son had fallen on the playground and busted his head open. He was going to need stitches. So, I called the doctor, said hit me with some pain medicine for the road, and my husband and I went to pick up the kids.

This is a dramatic example, but there are many seasons of our lives where it is too much. Life is messy. On those really difficult days, it is easy for me to cocoon in order to protect myself. I don’t want to be put in a situation where I have to admit how out of control my life is. I am currently in the midst of one of those times where I find it easier to stop going to my Table Group, teaching the women’s Bible study on Wednesdays, and participating in some social occasions with friends than to be honest with other people about where I am in my walk with God.

But while I can hide from people, I cannot absent myself from God. He is always with me. I cannot hide the mess from Him. He saw it from the beginning and knows what the end of my story is. He uses these difficult seasons to show us how He always fulfills his promise. And reflecting on the times He’s been there for me reminds me that He has never given me more than He can handle.

In Lamentations 3, the author is in one of these dark times. He wrote, “I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. Then I thought, ‘My future is lost,
as well as my hope from the Lord.’” (verses 17-18 CSB) But he doesn’t stay in that place. He remembers all the ways God was faithful to him in the past and is renewed. He writes:

Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:20-23)

Sometimes, we need to get back to the basics and make a list to remind ourselves of God’s goodness. I start by reflecting on how He provided for my family financially. When my husband, Jon, felt he was being led to resign his part-time position as a worship leader after 18 years, we were concerned about the financial implications. He was in graduate school and did not plan to take on another part-time job. We studied our budget and knew we could do it by cutting back on a few things. A month or so after we left that church, however, I received a significant promotion at my job and the difference in salary was almost identical to what he was making at the church. God provided after we stepped out in faith. When I think about His provision, I cannot help but praise Him for his steadfastness.

I am going to close this post with the lyrics of one of my favorite songs as it is a prayer and testimony about how God is faithful to us even in our most painful times. When we have nothing, He is still there. Praise the Lord that even when “we are faithless, He remains faithful.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

He’s Been Faithful (Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir)
By Carol Cymbala

In my moments of Fear
Every Pain Every Tear
There's A God Who's Been Faithful To Me
When My Strength Was All Gone
When My Heart Had No Song
Still In Love He's Proved Faithful To Me
Every Word He's Promised Is True
What I Thought Was Impossible
I've Seen My God Do

He's Been Faithful
Faithful To Me
He's been faithful, faithful to me
Looking Back He's Love And Mercy I See
Though In My Heart I Have Questioned
And Failed To Believe
He's Been Faithful, Faithful To Me

When My Heart Looked Away
The Many Times I Could Not Pray
Still My God Was Faithful To Me
The Days Are Spent So Selfishly
Reaching Out For What Pleased Me
Even Then God Was Faithful To Me
Every Time I Come Back To Him
He Is Waiting with Open Arms
And I See Once Again

He's Been Faithful
Faithful To Me
Looking Back His Love And Mercy I See
Though In My Heart I Have Questioned
Even Failed To Believe
Yet He's Been Faithful, Faithful

Yet you've been faithful, faithful to me