United States of America
Trusting God’s Timing Through the Tears
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven… a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
— Ecclesiastes 3:1,4
Grief doesn’t wait for an invitation. It crashes into our lives like a wave, often without warning—and in my case, it came with a phone call that shattered my world. My father, my hero, had been killed in a car accident. Just like that, the man who had once jumped out of airplanes with the 101st Airborne, graduated college against the odds, walked the halls of political power as a lobbyist, and rose to become a top salesman, and a family man was gone.
I remember the funeral vividly. As I stood over his coffin, I leaned in to look at him one last time. I studied his face, trying to memorize it, afraid to forget any detail. My heart ached with questions. Why now, Lord? Why him?
But grief, while cruel, has a strange way of leading us back to grace.
Fast forward to 2007. I was working at the White House—a dream I carried in part because of my father’s belief in me. One day, I received an email from one of his former clients. He invited me to lunch. Sitting across the table from this man, I was taken aback when he said, “I feel like I’m sitting across from your father.”
Goosebumps rose on my arms. I felt a warmth, a closeness to my dad that I hadn’t felt since the day we buried him. It was as if God reached down through the years and reminded me: He’s not forgotten. And neither are you.
After lunch, I walked back to the White House gate, my heart full in a way that surprised me. My boss noticed the tears on my face and asked if I was okay. I nodded slowly and said, “I just had the best day of my life.”
The pain of grief had not vanished—but it was now pierced with purpose.
I don’t pretend to understand why God allows our hearts to break. But I know this: His timing is perfect, even when it feels unbearable. He sees the end from the beginning. The seeds of sorrow planted in the soil of faith will one day bloom into joy.
God used my father’s legacy to touch me even years after his passing. He orchestrated a moment that reminded me that who my dad was still matters—and so do I.
If you’re grieving, don’t rush the process. Don’t minimize the ache. Instead, bring it to God. He knows the weight of loss. After all, He gave His only Son for us.
But also—wait. Watch. Trust.
God’s timing rarely makes sense in the moment. But one day, when the pieces come together, you’ll see the fingerprints of grace all over your story. Just like I did.
Heather S. Wolf
United States of America
This is just one of many stories of how God has been faithful in my life. A little over 10 years ago, I married a man who I thought was the love of my life. He came from a ministry family and had wonderful dreams of being a pastor one day. Along the way, I realized he was struggling with drug and alcohol addiction that started when he was 13 years old. I prayed relentlessly for his life- that he would be healed, and we could accomplish the things I felt that we were called to do. I didn’t see this prayer answered in the way I thought it would be answered, but every step of the way, God showed Himself faithful to me.
There were many days that my husband spent almost all the money in our joint bank account on drugs and alcohol. When I didn’t know how I would pay our bills, I prayed and asked God to spare us despite my husband’s horrible financial choices. Money would come in through random refund checks, odd random job offers to babysit, dog sit, or clean houses. There was one time I had no food in our pantry, and I opened our front door and bags of groceries were sitting there with no name on them.
Once I got pregnant with my son, my husband’s addiction got a lot worse. I ended up leaving the marriage during my pregnancy, and 6 months after my son was born, my husband passed away suddenly. In the middle of grieving my marriage, I also grieved his loss. A terrible lie came into my mind and ruled my day and night- that if God really loved me, He would have answered my prayers to heal my husband and kept us together. The miracle did not happen, and my faith was truly hanging by a thread.
In my search for jobs, a friend told me about an opportunity to make really good money leading worship at a church once per week. I had led worship in churches practically my whole life and had a music degree, but I knew I was in no place to lead people emotionally or spiritually. I needed money desperately though, and my friend, who was an atheist, told me that if I believe God gave me the gift of music, it would probably be a sin not to use it. So I went for it.
When I met the pastor at this church, it felt like God was wrapping His arms around me in love. This pastor loved me like a father, knowing my struggles and pain, my doubts and fears. He not only paid me enough money to take care of my bills, but also found ways to give me bonuses every year at Christmas, and giving me extra opportunities to make money at the church through the year. Every week I was showered in love by this pastor and his flock that also knew how to love well. They came to me in tears saying how much they were touched by my music, how inspired they felt when they heard me sing. Some of them handed me hand written cards telling me how much my music mattered to them. The service I led maxed out around 35 people, yet for five years, this church kept me and paid me every Saturday I showed up to play. Over those five years, the love that God showed me through His people is what softened my anger and helped me to trust Him again.
In the last two years, I have graduated nursing school, got a full time job as an RN in the local hospital, and am now remarried to an amazing man and father. I am so grateful we serve a loving and faithful God even when we run from Him.
The last song I sang at the church I worked for was “He’s Always Been Faithful” by Sara Groves. These are the words I sang and will continue to sing the rest of my days:
“Morning by morning, I wake up to find
The power and comfort
Of God’s hand in mine
Season by season, I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me
I can’t remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can’t remember one single regret
In serving God only and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me
This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories
I’ve heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful
He’s always been faithful
He’s always been faithful to me”
Lauren
United States of America
Just celebrated my 32nd anniversary with my wonderful husband. He was an answer to my prayers. I was married at a young age with two children over the next four years. My children’s father decided he didn’t want the responsibility, that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence, and we were divorced.
Being single for ten years with two children is tough, but the Lord always took care of us with all that we needed. A job with benefits came my way, thank you Lord. We were healthy, surrounded by faithful Christian friends, and I can now look back and see so many times the Lord was watching over us. Again, many thanks to our God.
My husband has been a wonderful father figure in our family. He is an answer to my prayers. I have learned to trust in the Lord knowing He will always provide for me.
Sandy Lincoln
United States of America
After several relocations during our marriage, we finally landed in Austin in 2005 – we had two young daughters, and I was seven months pregnant with our third. Being in Texas meant we would FINALLY be closer to family and grandparents – a huge dream for us. Then, in 2008, the market crashed, and my husband lost his job. After almost 14 months of job searching, Chris found a job in Los Angeles, CA. He was relieved, but I was devastated.
During those months of job searching, my mother was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, and I wanted to be near to help her (she lived in Houston, about three hours from Austin). It took everything I had to keep my sanity – I was torn between the needs of my immediate family and helping my mom during treatment. How was I going to be of any use living so far away? My mom was a very faithful woman – in fact, I credit her for my faith because she was never shy about sharing her love for God and Jesus. Growing up, she regularly took me to church, even though sleeping in on a Sunday morning after working long hours all week as a single mom would’ve given her much-needed rest.
Although she was incredibly sad to see us leave, she unselfishly supported us every step of the way. I was terrified about the move. I couldn’t understand why God would move me away from my mom, who needed me and my group of dear friends. I didn’t know a single person in Los Angeles, plus my daughters needed me to be strong to help them adjust.
We moved to LA in January 2010. Thankfully, I found a small prayer group in my new neighborhood that anchored me during those early months. My husband worked more hours than he anticipated, so it was up to me to manage our daughter’s lives, the household, the pets, and my freelancing work. But I remembered my mom’s advice: put God first – always. Pray. Tell God everything on my mind and watch Him go to work. So, I did things I never would’ve made time for before, like listening to Christian podcasts, reading my Bible after dropping the kids off at school, and surrounding myself with people who shared my values. As a matter of fact, some of my best friends to this day are the ones I met at my lowest, which is an unexpected blessing.
My mom’s disease progressed while we were living in California. But visiting us gave her soul a reprieve. California reminded her of Cyprus, the little island where she grew up in the Mediterranean Sea.
I remember the prayer I prayed the minute we moved to Los Angeles: Lord, please help! And, please get us back to Texas if it’s in Your will. By early 2012, it was clear that my mom wasn’t going to make it. I continued to fly back and forth from LA to Houston to be with her as much as possible.
Then, in October 2012, Chris got a call out of the blue about a job in Austin. My mother passed away four months later, in February 2013, and we finally sold our house and moved back to Austin in July 2013.
Maybe it looks like my prayers weren’t answered, but here’s what I hope you see:
- I prayed that we wouldn’t have to move away, but we did. I had to lean on God – there was no other choice. During those years, my faith grew in ways I NEVER thought possible for my daughters to witness. God was faithful.
- I was terrified of leaving the safety of my friends and family in Austin. I prayed for support, and God put me in a neighborhood with a prayer group that welcomed me like an old friend. He gave me some of my best friends who have stood the test of time and distance, and I can’t imagine my life without them. God was faithful.
- I prayed we would move back to Texas before my mom passed away. We didn’t make it in time, but knowing that we were coming back gave my mom tremendous peace before she died. God was faithful.
- We were in Los Angeles for about 3.5 years. Looking back, I needed that time to lean on God completely, without the distractions of my former busy life in Austin. He created a beautiful life for us. We had a yard with blooming roses, citrus trees, climbing wisteria flowers, and stunning surroundings that took my mom back to her childhood. She was happiest when she was there during her final months. That’s something she would’ve missed had we not been there. God was faithful.
- We moved back to Austin in July of 2013. I prayed that my mom wouldn’t die before I could be closer to her, but she passed away the previous February. I’ll never understand why God timed things the way He did, but I can see how His hand was in everything, including my mom’s death. God was faithful.
What I’ve learned is this: God always answers our prayers, just not always the way we expect. I didn’t know I had best friends waiting for me in LA, who would buoy me during my time there. I didn’t know how much my mom needed a mental reprieve when she visited us. I didn’t know that we would ever move back. I didn’t know what solely leaning on God looked like until I had to.
There were a lot of things that I didn’t know. But He knows, and that’s all I need to know.
United States of America
My mother died after a lengthy illness when I was 16. She and my father were high school graduates, and this was a big deal because their parents only made it to around the 8th grade due to the Great Depression and living in the rural South.
My mother desired that her and my father’s children, my brother and sister, and I would become college graduates. It was difficult, with many long nights, but all three of us were able to graduate from college and improve our life opportunities. I’m not sure if she is aware of those accomplishments, but if she is, I know she is very proud.
Rick Smith
