Foreword
Liz and I met many years ago at church. She was a dear Christian sister, persevering in her faith as a single mother of four. I did not know her well. My first wife, Susie, knew her much better than I did. However, a couple of years after Susie’s death, I started getting to know Liz more closely. Her situation was different to mine, but there were similarities. She was the only other person I knew trying to raise four children, essentially on her own. In time, our friendship blossomed into something more, and on 4 June 2022, we married.
In the lead-up to our wedding, we began counting down the days by working backwards through the Psalms. Each day I would try to choose a verse reflecting God’s faithfulness to his people and send it to Liz as an encouragement. I figured surveying the Psalms for this theme would prepare us well, and only strengthen our commitment to one another in marriage.
Unbeknownst to Liz, I also began compiling my own set of reflections on the wonder of God’s promises to his people from each of these verses. It was my very humble (and somewhat nervous) privilege to present these reflections to her as a gift on the night of our wedding. I knew she liked words. I prayed she would like the ones I’d written. I also prayed she’d overlook my sometimes monotonous, sometimes clunky, and often feeble writing style to see in these reflections an honest attempt to demonstrate my commitment to her.
I am equally nervous presenting these words here. I have certainly benefited enormously from writing. But, as I said to Liz, my overwhelming desire is that in reading this little book, you might become enamoured and encouraged by the enduring faithfulness of our heavenly Father as he has demonstrated that through his precious Son.
God’s faithfulness—his unrelenting commitment to his stated promise—is the gold standard against which every relationship in this world finds its measure and derives its worth. God’s faithfulness should always be the model we strive to emulate in our lives and relationships. I’m aware of how far short of his perfection I fall. But I trust that by focusing on his example, he will increasingly conform me to his likeness. I pray my faithfulness will be nurtured, strengthened, and evident daily in our marriage.
And to Liz, I say this:
You are a treasure to me and I long to treat you with the honour you deserve. Thank you for loving me. More than that, thank you for entrusting yourself to me. To expose yourself to the vulnerability of marriage once again takes great courage. I never want to take that or you for granted, and I pray our respective scars would only help us serve each other with greater sensitivity.
May God’s faithfulness ever be our hope.