Always Faithful: Great Strength. Bright Hope.
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His faithfulness is everlasting.
There are plenty of mother-in-law jokes out there. For example, “My mother-in-law has a bumper sticker that says, "My child is an honor student. My son-in-law is still a work in progress."
Well, let me tell you something, this one might be true of me as the son-in-law, but if it is, I can promise you my mother-in-law would never tell it. She might think it, but she would never tell it! I want to introduce you today to another story of God’s faithfulness. It is the story of my mother-in-law, Wanda Bicknell. And yes, I have her permission to share this with you.
I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging for bread. -Psalm 37:25
Even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will carry you! I have done it, and I will bear you; and I will carry you and I will save you. - Isaiah 46:4
Mrs. B, my nickname for her, has just celebrated her 87th birthday. But if you were to see her, you would not know she is 87. She is active physically, exercising every day. She is sharp mentally and she is wise spiritually. Mrs. B was saved as a young child, however, she wasn’t discipled in her faith or even perhaps challenged in her faith until a crisis occurred.
Mrs. B graduated from Arkansas State University in 1959 with a teaching degree. She soon married her first husband. They met in college and began their life together soon after she graduated. In their first couple of years of marriage, they made several job-related moves finally landing in Memphis, TN, where she taught school and he worked as a salesman for a book company. He traveled several days a week and on one of those sales trips tragedy occurred. Late one evening Mrs. B received a phone call from a police department in Mobile, Alabama telling her that her husband had been killed in an automobile accident. Here she is a young adult, living in a city far away from her hometown and suddenly she found herself alone, a widow. That is not something anyone, especially a young bride is ready to bear.
Little did she know that through this tragedy, she would find strength through the faithfulness of God. As I listened to Mrs. B’s story, she quoted the third verse of the great old hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness.
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!
“Strength for today, bright hope for tomorrow” is her testimony during that time in her life. Of course, there was a time of grieving but God showed Himself to be faithful and He wasn’t through with Mrs. B. In fact, He was just getting started.
As time passed, Mrs. B met another young man, Curtis Bicknell. Their meeting brought not only a relational change for her but also a spiritual change. Mrs. B shared something interesting about her relationship with Curtis. One evening when they were dating, they were discussing spiritual things. Curtis asked her a question, “Do you have a Bible?” Her answer was, “Somewhere.” And that began a deepening of her spiritual life. God would use Curtis to lead her to grow spiritually like she had never done before.
They married in 1963 and in their early years, they were told by doctors that it was impossible to have children. But God had a different plan, and as they trusted Him, they were strengthened by His faithfulness. God would eventually give Curtis and Wanda two children who grew up to be godly adults: my wife, Gina, and Curt, who is married to Christy McFarland.
Mrs. B taught elementary school in the Memphis public school system for 10 years and at Evangelical Christian School for 32 years, retiring in 2004. Many families have shared with our family how she influenced their children for Christ in those years. And those children who have grown up and are now adults, speak of those days in Mrs. B’s class as a foundational time in their spiritual lives. Her deep walk with Christ overflowed to her students and their families, spreading the Gospel throughout the community and the world.
After she was in a car accident in 1975 (read Always Faithful: The Car Wreck), Mrs. B’s spiritual life grew even deeper. Although the Lord had been real to her in the years before, she shared that this event in her life drew her even closer to the Lord, and deeper in her walk with Him.
After 59 years of marriage and life together, Curtis died in December 2022. Their years together were blessed and wonderful, but like all couples, they were also filled with challenges. They experienced career challenges, financial challenges, the challenge of not being able to have children for a while, and more. But in all these things, God was faithful.
Along each step of the way, Mrs. B found the strength of God from His faithfulness. Watching her up close as she cared for Curtis, grieved throughout his last year, and continues to love and care for her family, I see that she is still strong. But don’t be mistaken. Her strength is not her own. Her strength is found in her Lord, Jesus Christ, and His faithfulness.
As Mrs. B finished telling me her story, she quoted the chorus of a popular worship song, The Goodness of God.
All my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
How about you? How are you staying strong? Find your strength in the faithfulness of God.
I’d love to hear your story of God’s faithfulness! Email me at david@davidsmithministry.com and share with me how God has been your strength through His faithfulness.