“But the Lord is faithful…” – 2 Thessalonians 3:3
We were nearly 2,000 miles from home, following through with our commitment to purposely find adventure in our early years of marriage. The day had consisted of a hotter-than-we-were-used-to climate, exploration of the big city, new faces, and a job interview that seemed promising. We returned to our hotel room late that evening – tired but satisfied – to find a note that had been slid underneath our hotel room door.
“Call your father immediately.”
Suddenly more alert than when we had arrived, we fumbled our way though land lines and calling cards to connect with my father-in-law. There had been an accident, and in an instant, my fifty-two year old mother-in-law was gone.
So unplanned.
So shocking.
So surreal that it could be happening to us.
What happened next was a blur, and all we can figure is that the Lord must have placed an angel in disguise at the hotel front desk late that night. With tears streaming down our faces and bodies so weak we could barely stand, we uttered the words, “Can you please help us?” Before we knew it we were on the next flight home, stuck in a terrible nightmare that we desperately wished we could wake up from.
Her death had stunned her small Indiana hometown, where she was an elementary school teacher and a friend to many. The funeral receiving line was hours long, overflowing with everyone from her young students and their parents to lifelong friends who had traveled from across state lines. We stood shaking hands and accepting condolences until nearly midnight.
“Make sure you boldly preach the gospel.”
There couldn’t have been clearer family instructions for a funeral service. And boldly preach they did. In an auditorium filled with hundreds, the pastor spoke truth, hope, and life. Life that is made up of infinitely more than this world has to offer. Life that says Jesus is better, Jesus has done it all, Jesus is worthy, and Jesus is faithful in the midst of the deepest suffering you will ever face on this earth.
And with heads bowed and hands raised across the room, I had a front row seat to the faithfulness of my great God that day.
He was faithful in life, drawing my mother-in-law to Himself and making her a new creation in Christ.
He was faithful in death, ensuring that expired time on earth is really not the end for those who trust in Him.
And He was faithful in suffering, providing grace upon grace and making His name known to those who desperately needed to hear of their need for a Savior.
This is our God, and He is like no other.
So what three words can we say when this world feels hopeless, when our enemies are relentless, and when our sin entangles us? Praise God that even in our unfaithfulness…
He. is. faithful.
He is faithful… in life, in death, in suffering, and in a million other mundane moments throughout our ordinary days. In all of these things, “may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (2 Thess. 3:5)
And so Father, because of who You are we can confidently lay it all down at your feet once again and pray “Thy will be done.”
*Let’s talk: Share a time in your life when you have experienced the overwhelming faithfulness of our great God…

Wow – the song Thy Will – hit home – I was sitting here writing about all the things going through my head from the week trying to find the peace of sitting in God’s presence! A moment of complete rest! I am feeling like I’m just done -But, I know that I am not! Stinking in relationships is how I feel right now! Never feeling like it’s enough! YES – THY WILL BE DONE – The last words that I wrote in caps – HOW DO YOU PREACH THE GOSPEL??? Go before me Father God continue to teach me your ways!
Anne, he will guide you. He will be with you. He will teach you his ways, because you are open to receiving them. Thank you for being with us!
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
A time of God’s overwhelming faithfulness? ………..Only every minute, every second of my life.
Amen!
Cynthia, such a true statement but so hard for us to remember and fully appreciate. Thank you for this reminder today!
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
For months I had headaches. I was told that it was allergies. I started to feel dizzy at times more and more often and smelling horrible oders that nobody else could smell. On December 1st I went to the store to meet friends and shop for a computer program. I became so dizzy I had to sit down again. I had no insurrance so I rufused to go to the hospital until that day. My friends came to me as held my head because of the pain that had become a regular part of life. They told me you are getting in the van and going to the hospital. We will worry about money later. The CT revieled I had a brain tumor that needed to come out immediately. God made a way. I was taken to the Cleveland Clinic where a nuerosurgeon had agreed to treat me without insurrance. December 7th the tumor the sive of size of palm of my hand was removed. Over the next year God provided. A friend took care of the paper work. A women arrived at the same time he was telling my story and God provided free rehab. God knocked me upside the head and made me deal with the mental problems I was dealing with. It was just me and him and this time i could not run away. God showed me kindness after kindness. Medicaid covered the surgery and what has been a very long recovery. I felt God so close to me. I would go through it again to feel that all loving presence of God again. He provides every day. From friends that stepped up to doors that have opened that I needed at just the right time. It’s been 4 years. I still have a few issues but God is still guiding me and showing me he is faithfull.
Wendy, isn’t it amazing how out of our hardest times God shows his love the most? I realized that too when I faced a very difficult time in my family and God consistently provided everything I needed. He showed me his love for me even when I wasn’t looking for it or asking for it. He provided what he knew I needed and beyond. I would not have the relationship I have with him today if I hadn’t gone through that hard time in my life, so I wouldn’t change a thing. I am so glad that you have a similar story that has strengthened your relationship with him as well. God bless you as you continue to heal and recover.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
The wording of “God is faithful in life-death-suffering” made it meaningful. May I always say “Thy Will” be done instead of mine.
Tootsie, sometimes it is so hard to say “thy will be done,” when we think our ways are better. But his ways are always better. We can trust and have faith in that!
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Thank you for posting this and especially the song. My heart was breaking this morning and I needed to pray this song to the Lord.
Beth, it was a wonderful post and song today, wasn’t it? So glad it was just what you needed. The Lord holds you in the palm of his hand and will help you through whatever you are facing. Rest in his love and promises.
Lindsay, LGG Encourager
Please pray for my brother Brian that he has finally got a diagnoses for his health issues, but he is being attacked spiritually and is losing his faith in God. He has been having a hard time breathing so pray that he gets his breathing back and is able to get some rest.
Our stories are similar. We were only 500 miles away though when I received the call and heard my brother-in-law say, “Kate, there has been an accident. Your dad is ok and here with us. Your mom didn’t make it.” Raw pain, grief that overwhelmed uncertainty. My mom, too, was an elementary teacher who was well-known and well-liked. She was a mother/grandmother/wife who loved and was loved greatly. A drunk driver took her away from all of us. She was 57. One major difference which made it so hard for me is I had no assurance of her salvation…hope but uncertainty. (I am the only believer in my family.) God was faithful.
Then 3.5 years later we lost two children to a speeding driver. Again God was faithful.
Now we have lost two of our remaining children through broken relationships and they seem to have no desire to find our way to restoration. Do I keep reaching out or let it go? Before reading this blog today I was praying to know God’s will. Thy will be done, O Lord. Some days it is difficult to grasp God’s love and faithfulness with the pain in my life but HE IS FAITHFUL. I go forward by faith.
Wow! Kathleen, so much pain. I am so sorry for all your losses. I will lift you up in my prayer time this morning. Praying for you that the God of reconciliation will bring healing to your family. I pray that God would lead you in your relationship with your children. I do not know all the details of your story but I do know that trauma can try to rip your family into pieces. In a only three years my best friend died in a car accident, two grandmothers died unexpectedly within two weeks of each other, my youngest son was diagnosed with type one diabetes, adopted from China, and only 7 weeks ago my husband had open heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. Many times I have felt like I was barely holding my family together, but I know God was the one who is holding us together through it all. I think the enemy of our souls is trying to make us weary and lose faith and lose our testimony. The world today needs to know stories of God’s faithfulness.I pray that your faith is strengthened today!
Thank you for this today and this song. God is good! My son has special needs and I stay home to care for him. Insurance doesn’t cover much of what he needs. My husband was out of work for a long while and we fell behind on our mortgage payments. He now, truly thank God, has a job. It’s not much but at least it’s something. It looks like we will loose our house in the next few weeks. We are still praying we can get a modification to let us stay. I have no idea what we are going to do. Through it all, I know God has a plan and I am so thankful to be a part of it. He is faithful!
Lifting a prayer for you this morning.
Thank you. Just….Thank you.
At a turning point in my walk with Jesus…no church home; have attended all the churches in my area that I had hoped were biblically-sound; living in a rural area and have exhausted all possibilities; do not want to “forsake the assembling together” with other believers but need to be faithful to the truth written in God’s Word.
He is faithful. He will provide what I need to abide in Him, with or without other believers and a church home.
When I was 25 years old and I learned my husband was leaving for another woman. I became a single mom to my delightful 2 year old little boy. In those first days and weeks, my world was literally falling apart. But I remember looking down into my heart, and it felt as if my Father was cradling my heart in His hands, there was complete PEACE! Yes it was hard, but my Father was taking good care of me. That was over 25 years ago. Since then, God has blessed me with a wonderful godly husband, and two more children. He has also allowed me to fulfill His call upon my life, to serve Him as a pastor’s wife. I can now share my story, that truly, “He is Faithful.”
Oh Whitney, thank you so much for this. I needed it today.
Wow!! How I I wish that in 2000 the day after my husband and I got married I had known your story. My husband and I departed the day after our wedding from our bed and breakfast to our destination that was 7 hours away. something felt off that morning, but we forged ahead, none the less excited for the first day as husband and wife. It was 20 minutes after we arrived at our hotel , we got the call that my father-in-law passed away in our apartment. he and my mother in law had driven from AZ for the wedding and were staying at our place when he had a heart attack. It was unexpected to say the least and we too were a mess, too fragile to get back in the car and drive 7 he’s home. God’s grace surrounded us in the next week with all of the things that we had to do in order to prepare. I’m thankful for the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ for without it we would have nothing. He sees us through even the hardest times and proves his faithful love.
That time is now. My oldest daughter is carrying a child with no kidneys. The only procedure that will give this little one a chance at life is amnioinfusions. The medical community used to do them more, but has a new protocol that says a “quality of life” judgement must be made, and her child will have will not have sufficient quality to justify these heroic measures. So every protective mothering instinct is being crushed by the refusal of one Dr. after another. She has one more Dr. to see Friday, her last chance. He is not hopeful. The one place doing them is in Ohio…too far from us…a financial impossibility…several hundred thousand dollars as insurance does not cover this for children with this condition. My heart breaks, but at the same time I am being carried by the prayers of my family in Christ…so I know God is faithful…in our deepest suffering.
Please try contacting Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, congresswoman from my home state of Washington. She, too, carried a baby without kidneys and had to fight to get doctors to treat her. Her daughter is now a thriving three year old who recently received a kidney from her dad. As a congresswoman, she may have help for you not available elsewhere. God bless your daughter in her fight to save her baby!
Thanks Alice. She talked to Jaime a couple weeks ago and was so encouraged that she was not crazy to fight for a chance at life for her little one. We had our first visit with a bit of hope Friday. She will take one step as the way opens up. God is carrying us daily as we trust Him, and we appreciate your reply and prayers.
Yesterday things didn’t happen in completing my Wednesday’s assignment for LGG ! Rough night thanks to feeling dis-heartened and fighting discouragement ! My heart bleeds for our country so filled with sin and well for some reason people find it joyful ! This message perfecttiming for me . In my opening prayer to the LORD , I journaled ( yes I have a journal that I use each morning as I commune with the LORD . I told Him I was tired , I was feeling discouraged and very dry. I just needed to climb into His lap and just nestle . I needed to come into that green pasture near still water tat He promised for our souls . And then I read this sharing from Whitney–3 Words to say when I am losing faith ( Oh I personalized the title for me !) Yes , LORD You are faithful to me ! He sees my feelings of hopelessness ! He reminded me once again He is in charge . I can rest in Him and remember Ex. 14:14 ” The LORD will fight for me. I must be quiet ! Thankyou Whitney for allowing God to use you .
Whitney,
The 3 words that stuck out to me in your post were “call your Father!” I know that you were talking about an earthy father, but I’m thankful for the reminder that when something difficult happens, we can call on our Heavenly Father, and He is always available!