Turning Pain into Hope

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“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

Romans 5:3-4

Eliza hated the silence. Her life had always been so full of movement and things to do. She spent her days teaching, writing, and serving others. But now, all of that was gone.

The injury had taken it from her.

She lay in bed, her body aching, her spirit restless. The days felt unbearably long, and the quietness stretched on. At first, she fought against it. She asked the same questions over and over: Why me? What now? Where are you God?

But as the days passed, she started to read her Bible. This was not the casual kind of reading for passing the time. No. She was desperate.

And in those long, slow hours spent in the Word, she saw things she had never noticed before. Words she had once skimmed past now felt alive. Promises she had memorized now felt like they were written just for her.

She knew she was not just surviving this hardship—God was doing something in it.

One day, she found herself humming a song she had started writing before the injury. It was just another project back then. But now? The words meant something. It went like this.

“When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!”

She had never clung to heaven like this before. She had never needed to. But now, her hope in Jesus felt different. Stronger. More real.

When she finally released the song, it spread like wildfire. People who were hurting and searching found something in those words—something bigger than their pain.

Eliza Hewitt would have never chosen this hardship, but looking back, she saw it clearly. Her pain had not been wasted. God turned her silence into a song of hope, and it was too valuable to keep to herself.

That’s the thing. Sometimes, the greatest good that comes out of our hardship is what we are called to give away. Could it be that the very thing you are wrestling with is the thing that someone else needs to hear?

 

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God Speaks, We Follow

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“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:27

I can still remember the way my heart pounded in my chest.

“Hey, I don’t know why, but I just feel like I’m supposed to ask … Can I pray for you?”

My manager barely looked up at me. “No, I’m fine.”

So, I nodded, said something nice, and walked away feeling embarrassed. Maybe I had misunderstood God. For a while after that, I questioned if I had just imagined it.

Life moved on, and if I am honest, I stopped stepping out in faith like that. Years passed. Then one day, out of nowhere, a message appeared on my phone screen.

“David, I don’t think I ever told you, but thank you. The last time we talked, I told you no. What I didn’t tell you was that I was badly addicted to meth at the time. I lied to you. I was not okay! But you told me that God loved me, that He had a plan for me, and that He would make a way out. 

A couple of weeks later, I hit rock bottom and called my parents. Things did not go the way I expected, but somehow, I ended up in Chicago, and I have been clean ever since. Three weeks after getting sober, I found out I was pregnant. My daughter could have suffered from all the choices I made, but by some miracle, she was born completely healthy.”

I sat there, staring at the screen, completely undone. All those years, I had believed that moment was a failure. That I had missed it.

But God does not miss it.

He never does.

How many times since then had I ignored His voice, assuming it would not matter? How many moments had I let slip by because I was afraid of looking foolish?

Not anymore.

God is speaking. He is moving. And if He is nudging you today—don’t ignore it. You have no idea what He might be setting into motion.

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You Are Safe in His Everlasting Arms

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“The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

Deuteronomy 33:27(a)

Elisha’s chest ached. He was supposed to be writing encouragement for his Christian publication, but how could he encourage when the war had stolen so much?

Outside, the world was moving on—shops opening, carriages rolling by—but when he closed his eyes, he saw the families left in pieces.

He had read their stories in letters, seen it in the eyes of his friends. Mothers burying sons.  Young men burdened by memories too painful to speak out loud.

He exhaled slowly. “Lord, what can I say?”

His worn Bible lay open beside him, and a familiar verse stared back at him:

“The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” 

A lump formed in his throat. “Yes, Lord. That is the truth they need.”

He set his editorial aside. This needed to be something different—not just words of encouragement, but a song for weary hearts. And as he wrote, the words came effortlessly:

“What a fellowship, what a joy divine, 
Leaning on the everlasting arms; 
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, 
Leaning on the everlasting arms.”

“Let them feel it, Lord,” he prayed. “Let them know they are not alone.”

And somehow, they did. “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” traveled beyond his study, slipping into homes, churches, and hearts that needed it most. It carried people through storms and became a melody of comfort when they felt like falling apart.

And now, here you are.

Maybe you, too, have been living through suffocating grief or trauma. Maybe your heart is weary from carrying the weight alone.

But you are not alone. There is a love stronger than your pain, arms that will never let you go. No matter what has been lost, no matter how uncertain tomorrow feels, you can rest in the unshakable truth that you are loved by God.

Will you let yourself be held today?

 

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