Help Is on the Way – Sarah Jakes Roberts
Finding Help and Hope in the Midst of Life’s Trials
Have you ever felt hemmed in by challenges, burdened with both gratitude for past victories and grief for present difficulties? So many followers of Christ find themselves living in the tension between thanking God for what He has already done—and still yearning for more breakthrough. No matter where you are in your faith journey today, know this: you are not alone. God’s promise stands strong—help is on the way.
A Personal Journey: Gratitude and Grief Side by Side
Not every testimony is born from victory. Sometimes the most powerful moments come in the midst of struggle, while we’re still healing, still waiting. It’s in these seasons we discover how deeply God cares for us—not only when things are resolved, but as we walk through difficulties. Recently, I experienced a life-changing injury. Playing with my child, I fell and fractured bones in my neck and suffered herniated discs pressing dangerously against my spinal cord. In a moment, my world shifted.
At first, I thought I’d be fine. The pain wasn’t overwhelming. But my family insisted—against my protests—on medical help, and it’s only by the grace of God that they did. Had my injury been just an inch different, the consequences could have been fatal or left me paralyzed. In the hospital, I realized God wasn’t just with me spiritually; He had placed people around me to care for me in ways I couldn’t care for myself.
Yet, even while grateful for God’s protection, I found myself quietly grieving. I wasn’t just thankful for my survival—I was also mourning new limitations, the sorrow my accident caused my family, and the shift in my ability to take care of those I love. If you’ve ever wrestled with mixed emotions in the face of God’s deliverance, know that you’re not alone.
Permission to Be Honest with God
Too often, Christians feel pressure to hide their pain—worried that admitting heartache will look ungrateful. But the truth is, gratitude and grief can—and often do—coexist. It is possible to praise God and still feel the heavy weight of what’s been lost. Sometimes, in our effort to appear “strong in the Lord,” we end up carrying sorrow in silence, trying to manage our hurt on our own.
Honesty with God is not a sign of weakness, but a mark of maturity. God already knows our hearts, our questions, and our struggles. The Bible is filled with real, raw prayers—from David’s cries in the Psalms to Jeremiah’s laments. Jesus Himself, hanging on the cross, voiced His pain and felt separation. All of them turned their pain into prayer and hope by bringing it before the Lord.
When Healing Takes Time
After my accident, the first reports gave me a mixture of hope and disappointment. The bone in my neck, the doctors said, had miraculously healed—so perfectly that you couldn’t tell it had ever been broken. That was a clear sign of God’s healing hand. But my herniated discs got worse, and surgery was needed. There I stood, celebrating a miracle and grieving a setback at the same time.
Faith sometimes involves walking through seasons that don’t make sense. God can bring instant deliverance, but at times, the answer requires a process—one that stretches our trust and deepens our relationship with Him. If your story hasn’t turned the corner yet, don’t lose heart. God specializes in walking us through what we wish He would take away.
The Valley Is Not the End
Scripture is clear: even when we walk through the darkest valleys, God is with us. By sharing our hurt instead of hiding it, we invite the Holy Spirit into our process. The Prophet Elijah fled to God in his pain; Jesus turned toward the Father in His greatest agony. There, in the presence of God, pain is no longer the loudest voice in the room.
Pain does not disappear if we ignore it. Suppressed pain can become perfectionism, overachievement, even unhealthy choices. Bringing pain to God is the first step toward hope, healing and wholeness. His presence doesn’t always erase our difficulties but provides strength, peace, and perspective we cannot find elsewhere.
Hope: The Birthplace of Faith
Hope is conceived in pain’s darkest hour. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah’s soul was “sinking” with grief, yet in Lamentations 3 he writes, “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.” He remembered God’s mercy and faithfulness not after troubles ended, but right in the midst of them. When your spirit is weighed down, recalling God’s goodness brings hope—hope that feeds your faith.
Sometimes, hope is as simple as believing that God’s mercies are new every morning. If you still have breath, purpose is unfolding in your life. The situation you’re enduring may be painful, real, raw—but God’s compassion will never fail you. In every trial, you have the opportunity to invite hope into your circumstance.
Allowing the Holy Spirit to Minister in the Midst of Pain
Before facing His greatest personal pain, Jesus promised His followers a Helper—the Holy Spirit. Jesus never said we’d be spared tribulation or heartbreak, but He promised we’d never be alone. When pain clouds your memory and trouble stirs up doubt,
