I’m linking up with Amanda to share this encouragement today!

There is so much suffering on this earth; and it grieves me.  My heart breaks when I get on the news, and I just don’t want to do my news reporter job.  I want to draw back from it, but I can’t.  My Lord Jesus suffered SOOO much for me, so that I could be a light, a beam of hope for Him to those who are walking through incredibly dark valleys.    I want to pour out my heart and the heart of a fellow sister in Christ who has walked through a TON of suffering especially through injury recovery and eating disorder recovery.   

Suffering is hard and lonely.  But it doesn’t have to be lonely and hopeless.     

Yet there have been so many verses in the Bible that have become so much more real to me especially after years of suffering and struggling with mental anxiety, crushing fears about my body, lies from the devil, and wrestling with my own sin.  

Romans 5:3-5, ‘More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ 

Suffering in and of itself can seem meaningless, but I am amazed at how God uses suffering to mold us, to make us, to change us.   Before I had an ED I didn’t suffer that much; I had a pretty ‘easy’ life, and then the suffering, the trials came, and I remember.  

Curled up in a ball in bed.   In agony over my digestive system.  

Curled up on the bathroom floor.  Crying out to God for relief from the paralyzing fears around food.  

Exercising for HOURS because Mentally My Tortured Mind Couldn’t NOT Exercise That Much 

But I don’t want to talk about my suffering.  Instead I brought Jamie to you to tell you about what she’s learned through suffering and struggle and dark valleys.  This girl is 

PRECIOUS.  She was on fire with such hope and joy during the podcast; you almost couldn’t believe that she has walked through the suffering she has experienced from injury recovery, drug recovery, and eating disorder recovery.   Right now she is still in the thick of it, and she shared her heart with you:  

We talked about: 

– Why It’s Important to Be Compassionate With Those Who are Struggling

– The Things NOT to Say To Those Who Are Suffering 

– How to Express Compassion To Those Who Are Walking Through Tough Places 

– The Best Way To Support Those Who Are In Desperate Straits

– Why Jamie Can Genuinely Encourage Others Who Are Suffering Because of Going Through Her Own Journey 

– Why Suffering Can Only Be Hopeful Through Jesus  

– Why God Wants Our Character More Than Our Comfort 

– Why God’s Presence Has Become So Much More Real to Her in the Dark Places 

and SOOO much more.  Jamie poured her heart out; she shared about some of the darker/darkest times in her life, and she shared how God worked it all out for good, how God used her greatest struggles to produce some incredible things.   She doesn’t discount any of the hardships anybody has gone through; instead she encourages people that it can be used for good.     

Personally I can say God used my own pain to produce the greatest growth in my life and the greatest ministry opportunity.  I would have never had this blog or this podcast without it.  

How has God used painful times for good in your life?  

What have you learned through the toughest times in your life? 

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