Always Faithful: Double Heartache. Multiplied Comfort.

Psalm 59:16

But as for me, I will sing of Your strength; yes, I will joyfully sing of Your faithfulness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.

There are some people with whom we cross paths in our lives and as a result, we are forever marked. That is the case with the couple that I want to introduce to you today. Please meet Chuck and Stephanie Burton and prepare yourself to be blessed by the story of God’s faithfulness in their lives.

In my nearly 40 years of ministry, there is one thing I know for sure, when the phone rings in the middle of the night it is never good. That is exactly what happened the night I met Chuck and Stephanie. I was serving as the Minister to Young Married Adults at a church in the Memphis area. Chuck and Stephanie had first visited on Easter Sunday morning and slowly were getting more involved. They had recently become a part of Tim’s Bible Study group, The Lifebuilders. And, as new parents of twin babies, they were about to need that group of new friends surrounding them.

Tim Whitehorn was at the hospital and the one on that middle-of-the-night call. That night, after medical complications, the Lord called Chuck and Stephanie’s twin babies home to be with Him forever. Nicklaus was 72 days old when he entered heaven’s gates, and within 24 hours, Blaire, 73 days old, joined him. Can you imagine the grief, sorrow, and hurt Chuck and Stephanie were going through? Can you imagine the emotions that Chuck and Stephanie were experiencing? They had gone from the thrill of having twins to the reality of serious medical complications, and now facing the death of both children.

Chuck and Stephanie, by their own testimony, were already believers in Christ. Neither, however, had been discipled in their faith. They were young in age and young in their faith also. But through this, they would learn the faithfulness of God.

One of the ways they learned of God’s faithfulness was through the fellowship and support of other believers. When I arrived at the hospital there was a rather loud chatter coming from the hospital waiting room. I arrived thinking that because it was the middle of the night, there would only be a few people in the hospital. However, much to my surprise, Tim had gotten the word out to his Bible Study group, and the waiting room was filled with young adults praying with one another over Stephanie and Chuck and their newborns. One of the ways God demonstrates His faithfulness is by those who stand with us in life’s crisis. That is exactly what was happening. They were experiencing the fellowship, the family of believers. I will never forget the grief I witnessed that night in this family as well as in this group of young adults. Tim has been known to say that “the class grew up that day.” They were devastated, shaken and deeply moved by the twins' death and by Chuck and Stephanie’s grief. Here is Stephanie’s own testimony of those relationships, “Speaking of comfort, we were so blessed by our family of faith. While we were unable to deal with literally anything, our precious friends in Christ ministered to us. They fed us and cleaned for us and prayed for us and just plain loved us. Never have I experienced the hands and feet of Jesus like I did then. So many friends who are still like family today.”

I want to be honest with you, those were very difficult days. There was a sight at the funeral I will never forget. That one little white casket with the twins lying side by side, holding hands. I still have that image imprinted in my mind and when I think of it, I am still deeply moved. Again from Stephanie’s own words, “The Lord is truly near the broken hearted, and never have we experienced his closeness as in those first few years. Jesus is never so real as when there is no other comfort.”

How do you overcome something like this? How does a person go on with life carrying such grief and such heartache? How can one find hope? Those, along with a thousand other questions, were in my mind. To be sure, we can find comfort in God who is faithful, always faithful, even in the middle of such heartache.

Chuck and Stephanie experienced the faithfulness of God as their family of believers ministered to them. They experienced the faithfulness of God in His comfort as the Holy Spirit ministered to them. They also experienced the faithfulness of God for their future. Over time, God gave Chuck and Stephanie two children, Bekka and Matthew. While the pain of what happened in those short 24 hours was real, so too, is the joy that has come from Bekka and Matthew. Again - a reminder that God is faithful.

There is another way they have seen the faithfulness of God. Through all of what happened, Chuck and Stephanie have been able to comfort others who have walked similar paths. They call this “walking the lonely road of loss” and they have had the joy of walking this road of pain with others. Events like this mark us and leave scars. But we do not have to be defined by what happens in our lives. Chuck and Stephanie have seen the faithfulness of God through tragedy and shared that truth with others. “God's faithfulness endures forever. God will faithfully walk us through trial and tragedy and use them for His glory.” What a testimony!

I encourage you to pass this story along to someone today who might need a reminder that God is faithful, even through trial and tragedy.