“To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in ceaselessly. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.” – Jonah 2:6-7 NIV
Could Your Greatest Pain Be the Key to Discovering Your True Purpose?
Imagine waking up at some point with a vibrant future—dreams to meet, a family to offer for, a life to live. And then, slowly, unexpectedly, all of it begins to fade. Until at some point, your body, once vibrant, betrays you. Every hope you hold begins to crumble until, finally, you are left imprisoned in a shell of a body that not responds to your will.
This was Hilda Muluh’s story. In the darkness of her suffering, it felt as if her purpose had died along together with her body. But it’s precisely in these life passages when, in our best pain and despair, God finally finds us moldable and able to be shaped for His ultimate purpose.
We normally think that if only my circumstances were different—if only I wasn’t coping with illness, heartache, poverty, or loss—then I could truly live out my calling. But God’s purpose for you will not be constrained by your pain. Rather, through your pain, He unveils His deepest purpose for you.
Hilda’s journey teaches us that suffering is removed from the tip; it’s where our deepest calling begins.
How Can God Transform Deep Despair right into a Powerful Purpose?
As a young girl, Hilda was the shining star of her family—the one expected to lift them from poverty. But starting at six years old, her body slowly began to shut down, and by her teens, all her potential appeared to be gone. Once stuffed with hope, the colourful girl became confined to a bed, her dreams dissolved by the acid baths of bitterness and despair. “I felt like my life was over,” Hilda recalled. At her lowest point, she longed for and commenced to plan her death, believing her life not had meaning or purpose.
It was then that God began to whisper something different to her. A friend handed her a book by Joni Eareckson Tada, one other woman who had lost all bodily function but who had found her true calling through suffering. Slowly, the seeds of hope were planted in Hilda’s heart. “I went from wanting to finish my life to wanting to see what God could do through me,” she shared. And indeed, He did. Hilda became a journalist, a radio broadcaster, and an creator—using her life and story to encourage countless others walking through their very own valleys.
The Pattern and Purpose of Suffering in Scripture
Hilda’s story will not be an isolated one. God has all the time used suffering because the refining fire through which He molds His children for His purposes. In Scripture, Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and imprisoned unjustly before he rose to save lots of nations. Moses was a fugitive within the desert, removed from the courts of Egypt, when God called him to guide His people. Job lost all the things—his family, wealth, and health—yet he found God’s purpose in his suffering.
Each of those stories shows a pattern: suffering will not be the destination. It is a doorway through which God invites us right into a greater calling, one we couldn’t imagine without walking through pain. Joseph, Moses, and Job weren’t ready for his or her calling until that they had been crushed.
Historical Examples of Faith through Suffering
The same holds true for some great Christian figures of recent history. Corrie ten Boom, spent years in a Nazi death camp, losing her family and all she held dear, proclaimed that no suffering could separate us from the love of God. She became a beacon of hope, telling the world that no prison is simply too deep for God’s reach. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, resisted the Nazi regime and was executed for his faith. He understood that following Christ meant embracing suffering, even to the purpose of death. John Newton, once a slave trader, found redemption through his own deep brokenness. His suffering led him to develop into a fierce advocate against the very trade he once perpetuated.
These figures illustrate that God’s path on your life often leads through the desert of suffering and trials.
These deserts aren’t detours—they’re the very place where your purpose and calling are forged.
How Can Our Suffering Glorify God?
God uses suffering to strip away the distractions and false purposes we cling to. It sharpens our concentrate on our need for Him and His ultimate calling. Like the lives of Joseph, Moses, Corrie ten Boom, and others, Hilda’s life illustrates that the very things we imagine disqualify us from fulfilling our purpose are the things God uses to attract others to Himself.
What we see as limitations, God sees as opportunity. The pain, loss, and trials you endure aren’t signs of defeat but somewhat stepping stones toward something greater—His divine calling in your life. Your suffering becomes a platform for His glory.
So, what might feel like the tip of your story is, in God’s hands, just the start of His work through you.
Is Suffering the Doorway to God’s Purpose in Your Life?
The lives of those that have suffered—whether Hilda Morrow, Joseph, or John Newton—remind us that suffering isn’t a destination. It is a doorway to the aim God has prepared for you. What appears like the tip is usually the entry point for God to start His best work in your life.
So, when suffering comes, do not forget that suffering isn’t a destination; it’s a doorway to the aim He has prepared for you.
Suffering Refines Us and Reveals God’s Strength
Suffering will not be the tip of our lives but a tool God uses to refine and shape us for His higher purpose. When life feels most broken, God is working to attract you closer, reveal His strength through your weakness, and lead you toward a greater calling than you may have imagined. Your trials aren’t a destination—they’re a doorway through which God pulls you towards life and divine purpose. Through give up, faith, and trust in His plan, we discover that in losing ourselves, we discover true life and purpose in Him.
Meditation or Discussion Questions:
Pain can feel purposeless, but with God, no suffering is wasted. How might God use your pain to disclose a deeper purpose in your life?
Our weaknesses are sometimes the platform through which God displays His strength. Where in your life are you able to invite God to work through your limitations?
Our circumstances don’t limit God’s purpose. How are you able to begin to trust Him to make use of your brokenness for His glory?
Scriptures about Suffering
2 Corinthians 4:7-9: “But we’ve this treasure in jars of clay to indicate that this all-surpassing power is from God and never from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Romans 5:3-5: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we all know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope doesn’t put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Isaiah 55:8-9: “‘For my thoughts aren’t your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
Click here for Part 1: Embracing God’s Presence within the Pain of Suffering
Photo Credit: SWN Design
Jeff King has served because the President of persecution.org since 2003 and is one in all the world’s top experts on religious persecution. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on persecution and has been interviewed or quoted by many of the world’s top media outlets, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. He is a three-time creator,and his podcast is Faith Under Fire, where he helps Christians deepen and defend their faith. Jeff is accessible as a guest speaker. To learn more, go to the Jeff King Blog.
