God’s Faithfulness Endures Forever

“Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples!
For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of
the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!”
Psalm 117

I have been asked how I can proclaim God’s faithfulness after experiencing the loss of a child. I ask, “How can I not?”

I grew up singing the words from a hymn, “Great is Thy faithfulness… Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hands have provided. Great is Thy faithfulness Lord unto me.”

Having these words etched in my heart helped me when I hit my faith-barrier—the thing in life that challenges our faith in the Lord. We all eventually hit a faith-barrier because we live in a world with hardships like lost children, loss of loved ones, broken homes, loss of jobs, and difficult relationships, to name a few. The faith-barrier of losing my son gave me the opportunity to choose to believe the words I sang as a child.

So often in our world we think of God’s faithfulness as Him being faithful to our wants and desires. We say He was faithful to provide the right job, the right husband, the right house, etc. When we think of God’s faithfulness as Him doing the “right things” for us, we can get stuck at the faith-barrier.

God’s faithfulness has less to do with Him giving me what I want and more about me receiving His mercy every day. God’s faithfulness is Him being faithful to restore my joy and hope even after burying my son. God’s faithfulness is Him guiding me through my grief. Comforting me when I’m sad. Loving me when I question Him. That is God’s faithfulness to me. God is faithful to carry me through the deep waters of despair and lead me to the shore of hope.

All I have needed Thy hands have provided

I needed the Lord’s comfort and peace. I needed to be able to cry out honestly to the Lord in my bewilderment. I needed Him to take my fear. I needed to know He saw me and cared for me.

And His hand of mercy and grace provided for me.

David (who also lost a child) declared God’s faithfulness and praised the Lord—even when his situation was one of despair. I believe David understood God’s daily given mercies.

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!
His faithful love endures forever.”
Psalm 118:1 (NLT)

Though I grew up singing hymns about God’s faithfulness, it was easy then, because I was young and hadn’t yet experienced loss. I hadn’t hit my faith-barrier yet. Today, in my contemporary worship services, I still sing about God’s faithfulness and I know it. I have experienced it. I believe it.

I will sing of all you’ve done
I’ll remember how far you carried me
From beginning until the end
You are faithful, faithful to the end

There wasn’t a day that you weren’t by my side
There wasn’t a day that you let me fall
All of my life your love has been true
All of my life, I will worship you.
(Faithful to the End – Bethel)

The impact of songs with words like these hit me right where I live. Some days I am tempted to not feel the truth of God’s faithfulness, but that is when I raise my hand as I raise my voice and I declare His faithfulness to me. Because it’s true—He has never left me. Never.

Dear Mama, do you struggle to believe God is faithful? Are you stuck at your faith-barrier? If so, can I gently challenge you to praise the Lord? When you struggle, choose to praise. Declare His faithfulness and goodness. Let your praises turn your doubt and fear into a confidence of God’s faithfulness. Read the Psalms and let David’s declarations become your declarations of God’s faithfulness.

His faithfulness does endure forever!

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Shelly D. Templin is an author, speaker and blogger that shares a message of hope—with humor. She has three daughters, a son-in-law, and a granddaughter. Shelly lives in Texas with her husband, Jack, of 29 years and their two dogs.

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