Trusting God in the Barrenness of Life

Writing about a time of deep struggle in her life, Sara Hagerty described her experience this way:

“My awareness of my infertility was as variable as the rain. Some days it was a drizzle on the backdrop of my story. Other days it was a downpour altering my whole day.”

That captures so well the emotional upheaval that often accompanies life’s difficulties.

We all go through seasons where we’re overwhelmed, the answers to our problems are hard to come by, and our faith in God is tested. We want to know if His promises are true. Is He really there with us in our pain? And if He is, why does He seem to be doing nothing to change our situation?

Those age-old questions can be complicated to resolve.

Even so, theological quandaries about the nature of pain pale in comparison to the daily reality of living them out. There’s the knowledge of God, and then there’s learning to trust His embrace even when it feels as though He’s nowhere around.

Sara spent long seasons of her life groping through the darkness, searching for the hem of Jesus’ garment. She got married in her early twenties and expected life to go a particular way, but nothing seemed to work out the way she thought it would.

She suffered bouts of depression, marital conflict practically from her honeymoon, financial difficulties, years of infertility, and her dad passed away from brain cancer. Along the way, her Christianity became dry and … well, boring. To reconnect with God, she tried to run harder and faster – to do more to serve Him.

Instead, it drained her even further.

In every circumstance of life, she discovered that the Lord uses our trials and tribulations to unlock our hearts and deepen our trust in Him. He’s with us through it all, whispering His love to us in the midst of our pain.

Over time, Sara began to realize that our suffering could be forged into something that strengthens our intimacy with Christ.

What if all of this is stirring up a hunger in my life? she wondered. And what if this kind of hunger can only be satisfied by God? And what if the Lord is using all of these challenges to help me find Him in a way more deep and meaningful than I’ve ever found Him before?

Those are questions we’d all do well to ask ourselves, and we’ll delve into them more deeply on our broadcast today with Sara Hagerty. She’ll share her story and describe how the Lord helped her rediscover the beauty of His grace through the same pain and suffering that could have turned her away from Him.

If you’re up against bitter circumstances in your life, and you’re struggling to find God in the midst of your pain, I encourage you to call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY. Let us stand in the gap for you and your family and infuse you with some hope that God is waiting for you even when you can’t sense His presence.

Join us on your local radio station, online, or via our free, downloadable mobile phone app. Sara is the author of “Every Bitter Thing is Sweet: Tasting the Goodness of God in All Things.”