Un-Failing Our Way Into God’s Unlimited GoodnessSample

Keep Doing the Work

Singer/songwriter Bill Gaither grew up on a family farm in Indiana. He dreamed of nothing more than traveling with a famous Southern gospel quartet, singing and playing toe-tapping music. He learned to play the piano and sang heartily with his brother and sister all over the area.

One day, when Bill was a college freshman, the famous Weatherford Quartet called to ask him to join them as a piano player. But when the excited young man shared the great news with his father, Bill’s dad told him to finish college first before pursuing a musical career.

Bill was heartbroken. Being an obedient son, he would not go against his father’s wishes, so he remained in school. He finished his degree in English, then taught high school and met another young teacher named Gloria. The two dated, married, and began to write songs together. Though Bill gave up hope of being in a great gospel quartet, he still wanted to contribute to the kingdom of God through songwriting. He and Gloria went on to pen some great Christian anthems, and the Bill Gaither Trio became the most successful contemporary Christian group of its time. Even so, it wasn’t the music that Bill Gaither loved the most.

Toward the late 1980s, when album sales began to dwindle, Bill decided it was time to retire, but first he would record one more album just for himself: an album of old Southern gospel classics. He was surprised when it became a huge hit. At the very moment Bill was thinking his career was over, God was revealing that the career he had always wanted was waiting just around the corner.

The Gaither Vocal Band became the best known and best loved group in the industry. Bill is now known as the king of Southern gospel music. It’s a beautiful reminder that obedience to God often pays off in unexpected ways. Even when we think our dreams are lost, a life of character and hard work often leads to the things we desire most. We have not failed simply because we haven’t seen our dreams come true yet. We just need to keep doing the work with what we have. God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes we must lose it all to find everything.