He Is Faithful!

Scriptures: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

In 1993, because of a 5-year project, I moved the entire family from Southern California to Sacramento. We bought a house in Sacramento and rented out our condo here, thinking this was a wise financial arrangement that would ensure and enhance our financial well-being. At the time, I thought this was a blessing which would start a new chapter in life, both personally and professionally. Well, it was a blessing alright! It was a new chapter also. But, never would I realize how much the blessing was.

On January 17th, 1994, an earthquake hit Southern California and destroyed many houses, buildings, roads and bridges. One of the houses it destroyed was my condo. Immediately after the earthquake, my tenant moved out because the condo was so severely damaged that the structure was bent and twisted. The whole two-story condo looked like a “<” sign. Ours was not the only one damaged. More than half of the community was labeled with red tags. The remaining ones were yellow tagged. No exception.

The destruction was horrifying. But I was thankful that none of us was hurt, especially our two sons, one 3 years old and the other 9 months old. Then the impact really hit home when it came to the time to pay the mortgage. The bank would not give us any break. With only one income, our financial situation became tight very quickly. Some suggested that we drop the condo all together. But, after prayers and discussions with my wife, we decided that, as long as we were capable, we should continue to pay the mortgage because we made a commitment to the lender. We did not consider it a good testimony to skip any payment.

It wasn’t easy. But, we made some adjustments to our life style and found it manageable. Then, by mid-1994, the company I worked for decided that the contract we had with the client was not profitable enough. They wanted to re-scope the project, only to be rejected. The entire process was so ungodly that, as a project manager, I found it unacceptable to the Christian integrity I adhere to. So, I left the company and went independent. This, of course, did not help our situation at all.

After a month, the Lord found me a contract here in Southern California. So, we moved down here. Now, we had more than 2 house payments to make. We were still on one income. But, now, we really had to calculate every single purchase and payment. The demands for milk and formula, diaper and clothing, and everything else remained. What is essential? What is not? When should we pay for what? These are just a few questions we wrestled with all the time. It was a very, very difficult time, financially, for us! We calculated and calculated for we knew all it took was one bounced check to take us into bankruptcy.

But God was good. He was faithful to see us through it all. Not only was there no bounced check, it brought our family together and deepened our trust and dependence on Him. We came to learn “What it is to be in need” (Philippians 4:12) and experience His faithfulness as promised in the bible in the process. As the hymn says,


Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Lyric by Thomas O. Chisholm
Music by Rev. William Runyan


Prayer Requests:
For those who find themselves trapped in financial crisis resulting from natural disasters like earthquake, wild fire and flood

Prayer:
Father, thank You for Your faithfulness. Not just for the blessing of knowing You through Our Lord Jesus, more than that, thank You for guiding us into Your riches in Jesus in good time and in bad time. Thank You for the strength today and for bright hope tomorrow. Help us to do exactly just as the hymn said, “Join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.” In the name of our Lord Jesus we pray, Amen!