It’s common for Christians to preface their report of blessing or answered prayer with “God was so faithful.” We might say, “God was so faithful, I got the job I’ve been praying for,” or “God was so faithful, we walked away from the accident without a scratch.” Giving glory to God when we experience any blessing is appropriate. But I worry sometimes that by tying God’s faithfulness to a blessing, we imply that if things had gone badly, God would not have been faithful.

It’s vital that we extol the faithfulness of God in the valley as well as on the mountaintops. That’s what Jon Aragón does in “How to Say ‘God Is Faithful’ When Suffering Won’t Stop.” Aragón doesn’t suggest we put on a happy face when we suffer; rather, he recommends the biblical practice of lament. He testifies from experience that God’s goodness can be tasted, seen, and spoken of in the midst of our most severe trials.

Don’t stop saying, “God was so faithful” when something good happens. Let’s also train our tongues and our hearts to speak of God’s faithfulness when life is hard. There’s no better way to say it than the familiar call and response: God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.