Our Faithful King: Lauren Lockhart
When we think of the faithfulness of God, we may think of the great and wonderous miracles we have seen occur in our own lives and the lives of those we know. We often point to these things and declare that these are the signs of God’s faithfulness, and it is certainly true that we can see the seemingly tangible faithfulness of God in these events, miracles, and seasons. But what about when we do not receive the answer we have prayed for so desperately, when the miracle does not seem to come, or the season of suffering and pain does not end up being just a season but seems like a lifetime? Sadly, for some, these latter scenarios lead to the conclusion that the Lord is not faithful and that He is not working in their lives. However, for others, myself included, it is in the very depths of this pain and suffering that the Lord’s faithfulness has shined the brightest, not always because of a miracle or the conclusion of a season of suffering, but because of who God is.
Those who know me well know that I struggle with health issues and chronic illness, but only a few know how suffering laden and painful that journey has been. I have dealt with health issues for around 12 years, and for ten of those years, the health issues were undiagnosed. I probably could not count the number of doctors I saw and tests I underwent, but no one could figure out what was wrong. It will suffice to say that I got sicker and sicker to the point where I thought I may have to drop out of college several different times and could barely function at other points. Although I now have a diagnosis and thankfully have improved a great deal, chronic illness is still a reality that I face every day. There were so many desperate prayers prayed over the years, yet I still have not experienced the end of this “season” or the complete healing so desired. Even during my time at SEBTS, I have had setbacks and periods of exasperated symptoms. Some may conclude that God certainly could not be good or faithful considering this situation, but I will never cease to proclaim the faithfulness of the Lord precisely because of this experience because it is in the midst of this suffering that I came to understand what it truly means to believe and proclaim that God is faithful.
God is faithful and good because of who He is, regardless of what we see or do not see happening in our present lives. Over and over throughout Scripture, we are told that the Lord is faithful. In Exodus 33:5-6, God himself tells us that He is a faithful God, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. In Psalm 25, David cries out from the midst of pain and affliction to declare that the Lord is faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13 and Romans 3:3 tell us that He is faithful even in the face of unfaithfulness. 1 Peter 4:19 encourages those who are suffering to trust in their faithful Creator. These are just a few examples. Scripture affirms that God is a faithful God, and that faithfulness is part of his innate character. This is why we can cling to and proclaim the faithfulness of the Lord in the midst of suffering. His unchangeable character is the reason we can be sure that He is faithful even when our circumstances seem to say differently. We must stop using what God supposedly is or is not doing in our lives as the determining factor of his character, faithfulness, and goodness. His character does not change based upon the circumstances in our lives or the season we are in. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Even when we do not receive the healing we have prayed for, He is still the healer, He is still good, and He is still faithful because that is who He is. And nothing can change that.
This truth regarding the unchanging, unalterable, and undeniable faithfulness of the Lord, which is independent of our own circumstances, is something that the Lord made so clear to me amid my own suffering and pain, and I do not think I would have grasped this truth so deeply if not for my own trials. Elisabeth Elliot once admitted that “The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God” (Elliot, Suffering is Never for Nothing, 9). I too can attest to this reality in my own life, and out of the deepest waters and hottest fires, I have come to a much deeper understanding regarding the faithfulness of my Lord and Savior.
However, I would be amiss not to point out that there are also many instances that I can identify as the faithfulness of God at work in my life, such as His grace and strength sustaining me and keeping me from having to withdraw from college despite my pain, sickness, and lack of diagnosis. Even the fact that almost one year ago from the time this blog will be posted, I moved to Wake Forest, started teaching dance again, and became an in-person graduate student at SEBTS, all of which were and still are displays of God’s faithfulness in my life since there were many times when I did not know if those things would ever be possible. However, the occurrence of these events did not make God faithful or lead me to conclude that suddenly now He was faithful because these things happened. These are little earthly glimpses of His faithfulness, but even if none of these things had happened, He would still be faithful and good because of who He is.
One other aspect of the Lord’s faithfulness that became so clear amid sickness and pain was the truth that God’s faithfulness and goodness entails his faithfulness to his promises but does not necessarily entail complete fulfillment of His promises in this lifetime. The fulfillment, healing, and restoration promised in Scripture will occur, but it may not occur until we are resurrected and standing before our Savior. Nevertheless, even if healing and restoration do not take place on this earth, the Lord’s faithfulness is not discounted. We can have hope that these things will one day occur because just as Jesus was raised, so too will we one day be raised, restored, and healed if we are in Christ. We have this hope precisely because He is faithful.
Even if the pain and affliction is never removed in this life, I will proclaim the unchanging goodness and faithfulness of the Lord because it was amid that very pain and affliction that I came to realize how faithful He truly is. I hope you too will grasp the amazing and freeing truth that our Lord is a faithful God, and He is faithful even amid and especially in the midst of the deepest suffering because that is simply who He is and His character cannot change.
meet Lauren!
My name is Lauren Lockhart, and I am currently a graduate student here at SEBTS. I went to Anderson University for college where I majored in Christians Studies and minored in dance, and I am now pursuing a MA in New Testament and a MA in Biblical Languages. I am also a dance teacher here in Wake Forest!