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The privilege of being a pastor is that I treasure the chance to walk beside people in joy and in sorrow, to be there with people in the most vulnerable moments of their lives. I treasure the conversations shared while visiting parishioners facing death which are truly candid and sincere. I often inquire how they would like their funeral services to be conducted, as well as their favorite Bible verses and hymns, and why they hold them dear.
The story behind Great is Thy Faithfulness should encourage all Christians who consider their lives as ordinary. There’s no tragic story associated with this hymn as we have seen in “It Is Well” by Horatio Spafford. It’s just the fruit of a faithful man with a simple faith in a faithful God. Thomas Chisholm, a Methodist pastor, was converted when he was 27, became a pastor at 36, but had to retire one year later due to poor health. He spent the majority of the rest of his life as a life insurance agent in New Jersey. He died in 1960 at the age of 93. During his life he wrote over 1200 poems, one of them being Great is Thy Faithfulness. The song quickly became a favorite of the Moody Bible Institute, and later George Beverly Shea sang it at Billy Graham crusades.
A few days ago, I received an urgent call from the son of a parishioner sharing that his mother urgently wanted to meet me because her time seemed limited. Rushing to meet her, to my surprise, she greeted me with a wide smile. She shared her funeral plan with humor and grace. Perhaps like discussing someone else's final moments, rather than her own, she calmly expressed her desire for hymns to be sung and the Bible passages after her passing. One of the hymns she wants in the celebration of her life is Great Is Thy Faithfulness, and she explains why. Whatever challenges, trials, or disappointments she is facing right now, this hymn reminds her, she said, that God’s promises are true. I was so amazed with the peaceful posture on her face and with her joy of testimony about her faith. She shared that no matter how great the struggle is now, she always chooses to see God’s faithfulness.
For the first time in my life, I wished in growing older that I could trust in God like her, and face my final moments like her. As I returned home from that visit, the somber feeling I had when going to see her disappeared, and I was deeply moved by her deep faith and joy that transcended even death, prompting me to burst into singing the hymn she so loved.
Pastor Seok-Hwan
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