Have you ever found yourself looking up, fists clenched, and demanding to know the ‘why’ behind your suffering? If you have, You’re far from alone. Most of us if we’re being honest with ourselves and honest with God, have felt this way at some point in life!

When you are forced into “bad situations that would seem to appear out of no where” it often makes you grapple with moments when your pathway ahead seems clouded in mystery, and your pleas for help or answers seem to echo unanswered into a silent universe. You may even begin to wonder, “where is God, while I’m going through this”?

When bad situations drag on with no resolutions, no help, and no “angels coming forth to do what they do” it can make you angry, weary, tired, discouraged, fed up or totally over it. Heaven’s silent can be hard to endure, but enduring it you must if you want to make it to the other side of what you been going through. Just because visible help doesn’t manifest so that you can see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. God often does His best work when it appears that He is doing absolutely nothing.

Silence, lack of help, lack of solutions and no resolutions to your “why is this happening” and when is this gonna get fixed” thoughts might make you misunderstand the chapters of your existence and the season God has you in. It can also make you feel isolated and disheartened, questioning the very core of your faith. But it’s at the edge of this precipice of doubt where you need to hunker down and hold on to YOUR trust in God and His character and His faithfulness until God’s help, answers, solutions or ways through show up!

YOUR trust in God, His character, and His faithfulness can help penerate the darkness, illuminate the answers, and force deceptions, tricks, scams, and that which was meant to harm you to reveal itself and lossen it’s hold on you and your life’s story so that God’s power can come on the scene of your circumstances to uplift you, help you, save you, bless you and get you to the other side of what you been going through.

In those times when you feel like you just don’t understand, that’s when your trust in God becomes more than a word—it becomes a lifeline.

You gotta hold on. YOU gotta trust God! YOU gotta rememember the many ways that He’s already made for you and remember that God is faithful and His character is above reproach. He is not a man that He should lie, and He doesn’t “turn” on you and take off to leave you to figure it out, like some of those closest to you may do, when you run into trouble, sickness, heartbreak or baby mama drama.

The very nature of faith hinges on the unknown, on understanding that sometimes the picture is broader, deeper, and infinitely more complex than your minds can comprehend. That’s why Heaven remain silent, and there is no visible actions, help, answers, or solutions that you can see regarding what you been going through. Read on below, for ways that will help you understand and learn how to cope with what you don’t understand in circumstances that often try to exhaust you!

God has unseen Purposes for your Suffering: A Journey Through Our Trials

They’ve said suffering builds character, but in the midst of trials, such platitudes can ring hollow. Yet, let’s delve deeper. Imagine suffering as a grueling yet transformative journey. It is a path that forges the human spirit in fires of adversity, hardening it to a resilience that can withstand future tribulations. This unseen purpose of suffering is not necessarily to break us, but to break through the layers of what we believed ourselves to be, revealing a core strength that oftentimes we were unaware of.

Consider the analogy of gold being purified—intense heat is applied to draw out the impurities, and it is this very heat that allows the pure, valuable substance to emerge. Perhaps our hardships serve a similar function, bringing to surface qualities within us that, while we never wished for the struggle, we might eventually hold dear as some of our greatest gifts will emerge and be refined and perfected.

It’s okay to Grow Weary but you gotta Hold On: You will gain strength if you Persevere

It’s natural to grow weary, to feel the burden of life’s demands weighing heavily on our shoulders. Yet, there’s something incredibly human and courageous about holding on, despite the overwhelming desire to let go. Perseverance is not about the absence of fatigue; it’s about pushing through tiredness. It’s the silent, dogged determination that whispers, “Just one more step.”

In the peaceful lull between struggles, take a moment to appreciate the tenacity of the human spirit—your spirit—that has weathered storms and may still encounter more, yet refuses to be quenched. This is the raw essence of endurance: embracing each moment as an opportunity to grow stronger, even when strength seems an impossible concept.

When Exhaustion Takes Hold: Instead of growing weary, let God help you Find Rest in the Turmoil

But what of the times when exhaustion is not just a feeling but a suffocating cloak, wrapping its tendrils so tightly around you that rest seems a distant memory? It’s in this stage that you must remember: Even warriors lay down their arms to find peace in rest. Trust doesn’t always mean forging ahead; sometimes, it means stepping back to regain the energy for the next battle. You gotta rest. YOU gotta take time to “breathe” and allow God to refresh you, refeul you and renew you so YOU can go on”!

Finding rest in turmoil is an art—an art of gentle self-kindness that says it’s okay to be not okay for a while. It is the understanding that rest, whether physical, mental, or emotional, is not a sign of defeat, but rather a strategic pause. It is granting yourself permission to withdraw into a space of tranquility, to lie still amidst the raging storm, knowing that this too is part of the healing and growing process.

When you’re Sick of Struggling: God can help you navigate the Path of Distress

When you’ve had enough—when you’re sick to the soul with weariness—it can feel like your pleas for respite are lost on the winds of calamity. Yes, you’re sick of struggling, yet here’s where a pivotal transformation occurs. It’s where you discover that the struggle doesn’t define you; rather, how you navigate it does.

Navigating the path of distress is about charting a course through rocky waters with the compass of trust firmly in your grasp. It’s acknowledging the seismic waves that crash over you while steadfastly steering your vessel forward, one day at a time. This isn’t just about surviving; it’s about charting a path with intention, choosing to seek the lessons hidden within the tempest, and trusting that each stroke forward is a stroke toward calmer seas.

The Breaking Point: Move Beyond Being Fed Up

There’s a breaking point that comes when you’re fed up—a moment when the dam of patience and tolerance bursts. Yet, paradoxically, this critical point can often be a moment of significant breakthrough. It is when you’re pushed to your edge that you’re given a choice: to crumble under the pressure or to reshape your reality.

Moving beyond being fed up is no simple feat. It’s a process that involves laying bare your vulnerabilities and confronting them with an amalgam of fierce courage and unwavering faith. Trusting that out of the rubble of broken expectations and dashed hopes can emerge a new beginning—one where suffering is not an overbearing shadow but a teacher leading you to a deeper understanding of both life and yourself. God will help you make it through if you keep moving forward!

Use The Power of Vulnerability

Vulnerability is often misconceived as a form of weakness, yet nothing could be further from the truth. To be vulnerable is to be bravely open to life’s experiences, it’s the willingness to say, “I am hurting.” Unveiling the strength within begins with acknowledging one’s own fragility, and in doing so, tapping into reserves of power previously untapped.

Embracing vulnerability transforms it from a source of pain to a wellspring of strength. It paves the way for authentic connections with others who might be walking through similar shadows and signals a trust that defies the natural instinct to shut the world out. It’s in the shared stories of hardship that we uncover a collective resilience, a mutual understanding that even in our most exposed moments, we are never truly alone.

Trust the Divine Potter: He is Shaping your Life Through Suffering

The metaphor of the divine potter crafting clay into a beautiful vessel provides a profound illustration of how suffering can shape lives. The potter’s hands—deliberate and skilled—apply pressure, mold, and sometimes remake the clay into its intended form. The process is not without discomfort for the malleable material, but it is necessary for the emergence of its destined beauty.

God is the divine potter. In trusting the divine potter, we submit to the possibility that each of our sufferings can lead to greater wholeness. We place our fragmented selves into the hands of one who sees beyond the present pain, believing that the pressure and reshaping we endure will lead to a masterpiece—a life of complexity, depth, and remarkable strength.

From Exhausted to Energized: Hope’s Restorative Touch

After long journeys through the desert of hardship, even the most resilient travelers can feel drained of vitality. How beautiful then, is the moment when hope descends like a gentle rain, its restorative touch rekindling the embers of a weary soul. Transitioning from exhausted to energized requires embracing hope, that ineffable force that whispers, “Rise up, for this is not the end.”

Hope is not a denial of reality but a defiance of despair. It is choosing to see beyond present circumstances and refusing to let the narrative end in sorrow. Energized by hope, you begin to envision a life where weariness is replaced by renewed purpose, and you take steps forward fueled by the conviction that there is beauty on the horizon, just waiting to be discovered.

Reclaim Joy: The Paradox of Pain and Delight

Joy often feels inaccessible in the throes of suffering. Yet, reclaiming joy is more profound than a simple return to happiness. It is discovering a contentment that coexists with pain—a paradox that allows for laughter amidst tears and serenity amidst chaos. This kind of joy is not fleeting; it becomes an anchor, grounding us even when life’s seas are rough.

By acknowledging the coexistence of pain and delight, we allow ourselves to experience a full spectrum of emotion, understanding that one does not negate the other. Reclaiming joy is an act of rebellion against the notion that suffering has the final say; it is fortifying the soul with the complex beauty of human experience. To reclaim your joy when you are in the “throes” of sufferings you must keep telling yourself, “God will turn my mourning to joy”!

Join the Tapestry: Our Part in a Greater Plan

It’s easy to feel insignificant—a lone thread in the vast tapestry of existence. Yet each thread is essential, and every patch of shadow contributes to the greater design. Joining the tapestry means recognizing our individual stories of suffering as part of a more extensive narrative, one that weaves together human experience into a work of profound collective meaning.

Trust plants the seeds for believing that our agonies serve a purpose beyond our individual lives. We start to see our sufferings as part of a dynamic interplay, a tableau where even the most painful moments are integral to the richness and depth of the human chronicle. It’s about understanding that while we may not grasp the ‘why,’ our lives are nevertheless contributing to a story much grander than ourselves.

The Dawn After Dusk: Emerging from the Crucible Transformed

Emerging from the crucible of suffering, we often find that we are not the same people who entered it. The intense heat and pressure of our trials shape us in ways that are both palpable and profound. As dawn breaks after a period of darkness, we too can break through our sufferings transformed—more resilient, more understanding, and perhaps, more compassionate.

Transformation doesn’t negate the pain endured but it offers a testament to the human spirit’s capacity to evolve. Emerging from suffering, we step forward with a new appreciation for life and a deepened trust in the journey. It is this enduring trust in life’s process and in an unfolding greater good that ignites an enthusiasm for each new day, for even in suffering, we are being crafted, honed, and lovingly shaped.

In the crucible of your sufferings, where the heat is most intense, trust that just as the dawn follows the darkest hour of the night, so too will your struggles forge a new morning in your life—a morning where you emerge not broken, but beautifully remade.

YOU may not ever understand the “why” of your sufferings. Some things may never be revealed, but choose not to remain in a stalled state of existence refusing to forge your way through the “fires of adversity”, press on with God, so that YOU can go on. Even when God is doing nothing and not answering something, He is still moving. He is still working, and He is still orchestrating His plans for your life, so even though you may not understand, agree or like the way the drama is playing out, trust God, trust His character. He’s got a plan for you and that plan is already in motion. When God is ready, He will reveal to you the way out, the way forward, or the way through it.

If this article benefited you, and it spoke to you in any way and you want God to help you nagavitate what you don’t understand, let’s pray;

Heavenly Father,

In the depths of our weary souls, we come before you, feeling the weight of our journey in faith. We are tired, Lord, tired of waiting, tired of enduring, tired of not understanding. Yet, in our weariness, we cling to the promise of your presence, knowing that you are with us in every step of this journey.

Lord, we confess our frustration and impatience. We long for clarity in the midst of confusion, for strength in the face of weariness, and for hope in times of doubt. Help us, O God, to trust in your perfect timing, even when we cannot see the road ahead.

Grant us, O Lord, the wisdom to discern your will and the courage to follow where you lead. Speak to our hearts, we pray, and quiet the storm of doubt and fear within us. Remind us of your faithfulness throughout history and reassure us that you are working all things together for our good.

We invite you, O God, to show up in our lives in ways that only you can. Illuminate the path before us and guide our steps. Comfort us in our moments of weakness and minister to our wounded spirits. Pour out your blessings upon us, Lord, and sustain us with your grace.

Help us to persevere in faith, knowing that our trials are temporary but your love endures forever. Renew our strength, O God, and restore our weary souls. May we find rest in your presence and hope in your promises.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, we pray.

Amen.

Evangelist Wendy Evans
Founder and CEO OF WIN International Ministries