Recognizing God's Faithfulness

I’ve read a lot on God’s faithfulness. Sang songs about it. Heard people talk about it.

“God was so faithful to His promise.”

“He answered my prayer – He’s been faithful.”

But a part of me always questioned this aspect of God’s character. I believed it was a part of who He was, but I didn’t have a tangible, personal experience with His faithfulness. Or should I say: I hadn’t noticed His faithfulness.

And then on a random Thursday, I had a face-to-face encounter with God’s faithfulness. It was too obvious not to notice, too detailed to be anything but God trying to get my attention as if to say, “Rachel, I’m here. I see you. I’ve seen you all along. I’m faithful to be who I say that I am. Don’t you see it?”

How did I notice God’s faithfulness?

My husband and I pulled up to one of our favorite cafes to grab a quick dinner before going to a midweek worship gathering a few cities away. It had been a year since we had been able to go, and being that we’re both pastors, we were really looking forward to a night of being able to recharge.

My husband picked a table and sat down, without even realizing that he picked the exact same table we sat at almost a year prior with my mom. When we last sat at that table, we gave my mom a card that read “Happy Mother’s Day, Grandma” with the announcement that we were expecting our very first child – and that she was soon going to become a grandma. There were so many tears of joy; I have snapshots of that moment imprinted in my memory. After dinner that night, my mom, husband and I headed to the worship gathering.

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Little did I know, that was the night we had told my mom our exciting news, but it was also the eve of miscarrying our first child. We stood that night praying for our baby, completely unaware he was already vanishing inside of me. His life would never manifest. The next morning sprinkled the signs of my body releasing this baby, for some reason we won’t know this side of eternity. We would never meet our first precious child. Months of darkness ensued. I never knew you could love someone so much without ever meeting them.

Fast forward a year later to this particular Thursday night: we had rushed out of work and sat through traffic to grab dinner and make it to the worship gathering. I was tired and thought of staying home, yet felt this quiet prompting from God to be there.

I was also 38 weeks pregnant.

The first song we sing refrains the line “Your faithfulness is my confidence.” Tears pour down my cheeks. I clutch my belly tighter. There’s life in there – where there last was death. I remember so clearly standing in this space a year ago, holding a lifeless belly, excited for a gift we never got to open. Yet now, I feel my baby boy moving within me – this life shouting and pointing to God’s faithfulness. There’s no clearer testament. God restored what was lost. He filled my aching womb with life: a miracle I had doubted would ever be mine.

Why did God have me there on this night, retracing the steps of a story a year prior so precisely that I could not merely call it a coincidence?

I believe it was simply for me to notice His Faithfulness. It was a gift. It was my eyes opening to the reality of His nature – the reality that fingerprints of His faithful hand are all over my life. I needed my distracted, busy spirit interrupted to notice.

In what ways has God been faithful throughout your life? How are you seeking to intentionally notice His faithfulness today?

I’m sensitive in sharing this part of my story with the reality that for some stories, God does not always answer prayers by replacing the exact thing which was lost (in my case, a baby). Sometimes He answers in other ways, often He surprises us.

The clear theme running through each of our narratives is His faithfulness—because that’s central to who He is. He’s always seeking to redeem, wanting to take those broken pieces that we think can’t fit anywhere and craft a mosaic of beauty. He’s writing a story in each of our lives that declare His faithfulness.

Why? Because it is simply who He is.

Rachel Lohman

Rachel Lohman is a pastor in Southern California who loves tap dancing, running marathons, and speaking. As an aspiring author, she’s passionate about helping women connect their stories of brokenness with the redemption of God’s story, and practicing the way of Jesus alongside her husband and baby boy. She’d love to connect with you on Instagram!