Remembering the Faithfulness of God This Year

As we come to the end of this year, I invite you to a moment of remembering. Throughout Scripture, God’s people are called to look back and tell the stories of what the Lord has done. Stones were stacked, feasts were celebrated, and stories were passed from generation to generation so that hearts would not forget the faithfulness of God.  

Before we step into a new year, let us pause and reflect. Where did God meet you this year? Where did He heal, provide, redirect, or quietly sustain you when the answers were not clear?  

Below are three God Stories from within our Bridgeway family, shared from their own perspective. As you read, may these testimonies stir gratitude, hope, and renewed trust in the God who is still at work.  

Lilly’s Story:   

Two years ago, I was on my deathbed. After all treatments had failed, my family was told I would not live to see Mother’s Day. I made the difficult decision to stop treatment and leave the hospital against the doctors’ advice. If I were going to die, I wanted to be with my family, not surrounded by hospital walls.  

In that moment, I knew I wanted to give my life fully to Jesus. I wanted to be baptized. I wanted to dedicate my son. When I went into the waters of baptism, something powerful happened. Everything that was killing me was washed away. Today, doctors call me a miracle.  

I am alive. I am serving the Lord. My life now belongs to Jesus.  

And God’s faithfulness didn’t stop with me. My daughter was born with a brain bleed. She has endured seven brain surgeries. We were told she would never walk, never talk, and never eat by mouth. Today, she does all three.  

God is so good. Two years ago, I was dying. Today, I am fully alive.  

Marie’s Story:   

I felt the power of the Holy Spirit move me to act on behalf of someone else. I was prompted to respond with compassion to a family sitting outside an Aldi in Columbia. I listened. I went. I obeyed. In that moment, I was reminded of Jesus’ words: What we do for the least of these, we do unto Him.  

At the same time, my own life felt heavy. My HVAC unit wasn’t working, and I had no heat in my home. Nighttime temperatures dropped into the 20s. I was boiling water to keep my house warm and worrying about frozen pipes. I prayed honestly, saying, “God, Your Word says You won’t allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear. How am I supposed to handle this?”  

And God showed up.  

In the middle of obedience and uncertainty, He reminded me that He sees, He knows, and He provides. I learned that compassion is not something we wait to offer until life is easy. Sometimes obedience is the very place where God meets us.  

Richard’s Story:   

This year began with unexpected transitions. I stepped away from a full-time position and moved into substitute teaching. Soon after, I secured another full-time job, only to be let go less than 40 days later. Once again, I returned to subbing, choosing to trust God in the uncertainty.  

Through every closed door and temporary assignment, I continued to pray, walk by faith, and serve where I was placed. It wasn’t always easy to understand what God was doing, but I trusted that He was still ordering my steps.  

In His perfect timing, God opened the door to a new full-time position that is a literal answer to prayer. Looking back, I can see clearly what I couldn’t see in the moment: even when the path didn’t make sense to me, God was still leading.  

A Final Invitation  

These stories remind us that God is faithful in hospital rooms and grocery store parking lots, in classrooms and living rooms, and in the long stretches of waiting in between.  

As you reflect on this year, take a moment to ask:  

Your story matters. God is still writing it.  

May we be a people who remember well, testify boldly, and step into the coming year with grateful hearts, trusting that the same God who was faithful then will be faithful again. Hear more stories in today's God Stories service, linked below.

If you have a testimony you'd like to share, click the link below.
With gratitude, Pastor Jared