Can we be honest for a minute?
Some of us are thankful for things we never would have prayed for.
Nobody wakes up and asks God for heartbreak. Nobody puts “a season that knocks the wind out of me” on their prayer list. We pray for open doors, healed relationships, and bills paid on time. We don’t pray for the phone call that changed everything, or the betrayal we didn’t see coming, or the year we barely held it together.
But here we are, on the other side of some of those seasons, and a lot of us can say the same strange thing: I wouldn’t trade what I found in there.
Not because the pain was good. It wasn’t. But because of who met us in it.
The hurt showed us we couldn’t fix it ourselves
We’re fixers, a lot of us. We hold the family together, keep the house running, show up for everybody, and smile through it. We’re good at handling things.
Then something comes along we can’t handle. The diagnosis. The divorce. The child who walked away. The loss that left a hole no amount of busy could fill. And for maybe the first time, we run out of our own strength.
That’s the moment so many of us finally stopped trying to carry it alone. We cried in the car so nobody would see. We sat on the bathroom floor and said, “God, I can’t do this.” And He didn’t say, “Try harder.” He came closer.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
Paul learned the same thing. When he begged God to take his struggle away, God answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). The hurt didn’t push God away. It made room for Him.
The anger showed us what was really broken underneath
Let’s talk about the part church folks don’t always say out loud: some of us were angry. Angry at the people who hurt us. Angry at ourselves. And if we’re really honest, angry at God.
Why did You let this happen? Where were You? How long are You going to stay quiet?
If you’ve ever prayed a prayer like that, you’re in good company. David did it in Psalm 13: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” That’s in the Bible. God kept it there on purpose.
The anger wasn’t the end of our faith. For a lot of us, it was the beginning of real faith, the kind with no performance in it. Anger has a way of pulling up what’s buried. The fear. The grief we never let ourselves feel. The lie that we had to be strong all the time.
Scripture doesn’t tell us to pretend we’re fine. It says, “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8). And it says, “In your anger do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26), which means anger is something we bring to God, not something we stuff down or let rule us. When we finally poured it out, He didn’t flinch. He started healing what was underneath.
He reached down and pulled us out
This is the part that still brings so many of us to tears. He didn’t leave us there.
It usually didn’t happen all at once. For most of us it was one hand, one day, one breath at a time. A text from someone right when we needed it. A verse that jumped off the page. A morning we woke up and realized the weight was a little lighter than the day before.
David wrote about it like this:
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” (Psalm 40:1–3)
The slimy pit. The mud and mire. That’s what it felt like, didn’t it? Every time we tried to climb out on our own, we slid right back down. But God “reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters” (Psalm 18:16).
We didn’t climb out. We were lifted out. And a lot of us walked away with a new song we never would have learned anywhere else.
Why we can be thankful for the breaking
There’s a verse tucked into Psalm 119 that most of us skim right past:
“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71)
Good for me? That one used to make us bristle. But once we’ve been through the fire, we start to get it. The hurt taught us things the easy days never could. We learned how to pray for real. We learned who our true people are. We learned that God’s presence isn’t a feeling we chase. It’s a promise He keeps.
Joseph knew this better than anyone. Sold by his own brothers, falsely accused, forgotten in prison for years. And at the end of it all he could look those same brothers in the eye and say, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
That’s the heart of Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Not some things. All things. Even the hurt. Even the anger. Even the season we thought would break us.
So yes, we’re thankful for the blessings this season. But we can be thankful for the breaking too. Because that’s where so many of us learned the truth for ourselves: God is truly good. Not just when life is good. Always.
If you’re still in it right now
Maybe you read all of this and thought, That’s nice, but I’m not on the other side yet. Maybe you’re still in the pit, still angry, still waiting.
Hold on. Please hold on.
You’re not forgotten, and you’re not too far gone. The same God who pulled so many of us out is already reaching for you. Here’s what He promises while you wait:
- “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.” (Isaiah 43:2)
- “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)
- “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
You don’t have to have the right words. You don’t have to have it all together. Just keep reaching up. He’s got you, even when you can’t feel it.
A prayer for all of us
Lord, thank You for the blessings we can see, and for the ones that came wrapped in hurt. Thank You for meeting us in the pit when we had nothing left. Thank You for listening to our anger without walking away. For the ones still waiting, reach down and lift them like You lifted us. Set our feet on the rock and give us a new song. You are good, God. Not just on the good days. Always. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Sit with it this week
- What season of hurt do you now see God’s hand in?
- Is there anger you still need to pour out to Him honestly?
- Who in your life is in the pit right now, and how could you remind them they’re not alone?
If this spoke to you, share it with someone who needs it today. And tell us in the comments: what has God pulled you out of?
If you want a quiet place to keep going deeper, Still, Small Voice is for the seasons when you need to hear Him again, and Grace Unfolding walks you through the whole Bible in a year, one day at a time (use code GRACE20). You can also find more encouragement on Instagram at @mommajscozycottage.
With so much love, Momma J 🤍
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