We are inclined to approach suffering as something to be avoided in any respect costs. At the primary sign of pain, we either flee or pray desperately for relief, hoping for deliverance. Sometimes, the healing comes—but often, it doesn’t. Even when the answers to our pleas seem distant, God is at work, using our suffering to attract us to a deeper place where power is present in give up and peace blooms within the soil of brokenness.
In the moments when pain traps us and each exit is sealed, we will encounter God in ways we never imagined. Stripped of the illusion of control, we learn the hard truth: our hope lies not in our strength but within the One who holds all things.
It’s the deeper meaning of “my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is within the crucible of suffering that “the peace of God, which surpasses understanding” (Philippians 4:7) begins to turn into real.
As the president of a persecution ministry (International Christian Concern), I consistently consider these truths. Still, they surfaced afresh in my conversation with Hilda Muluh, the creator of “The Girl with Special Shoes: Miracles Don’t Always Look Like You’d Expect,” who was a guest on my podcast, Faith Under Fire.
Hilda’s Story: A Life Transformed by Surrender
Hilda has been a prisoner in her body since her teenage years, certain by Muscular Dystrophy (MD). For Hilda, the agony was not only in her physical suffering but within the memory of what once was—of a body that after moved freely. The disease slowly took her ability to walk, to take care of herself, to live as she once did. It seemed as if every little bit of life and hope was slipping away.
In her desperation, she cried out to God, yr after yr, pleading for the miracle of healing. But as time passed, no healing got here. What did come, though, was an unexpected gift: complete give up to God’s will. Her suffering, once her deepest curse, became the very means through which she found a closeness with God that she could never have reached on her own.
Hilda learned that essentially the most profound healing will not be at all times of the body but of the spirit—a realization that might reshape her understanding of God’s love. It was a love that refused to be limited by human expectations. She found that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18), and thru her brokenness, she encountered His nearness in a way that was as tender because it was transformative.
Wrestling with God’s Love within the Midst of Pain
Hilda’s story is one in every of wrestling with the stress between human desire and divine purpose. She was born in Cameroon and grew up energetic and potential, only to have all of it stripped away. She remembers the anguish in her heart as she cried out, “If you don’t heal my body, it means you don’t love me.”
Her words echo the struggle so a lot of us face. We hold God’s love hostage to our circumstances: “If He heals me, then He loves me. If He answers my prayer, then He is sweet.” But God’s love doesn’t operate on our terms.
In His wisdom, He often asks you to release the very belongings you cling to, inviting you to trust Him even when there isn’t any seeming rhyme or reason for our pain.
In her darkest moments, as she contemplated ending her life, Hilda got here across the story of Joni Eareckson Tada, a lady paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident. Joni’s unwavering joy, despite her suffering, stirred something inside Hilda. She realized that even without physical healing, God could fill her life with something far greater—peace, joy, and a deep relationship with Him that defied her suffering. Hilda’s prayer modified: “If you’ll be able to do in my life what you’ve done in Joni’s, I’ll trust you.”
The Beauty of Surrender: from Brokenness to Wholeness
Hilda’s body stays broken, but her spirit has been made whole. What she present in give up was not the healing she had sought but a peace that would only come from God’s presence. Her disability, once the source of despair, became the vessel that carried her to the feet of Jesus. And in her give up, she discovered a treasure hidden within the darkness, a treasure that she would never trade for anything.
The Apostle Paul, writing from his own place of suffering, said, “I actually have learned to be content regardless of the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). Hilda learned this too, through tears and pain, and got here to a spot where she could say, “Even if I never receive the healing I long for, I’ll trust You, Lord. Even if my circumstances never change, I’ll consider that You are good.”
Suffering Is a Common Human Experience
Suffering has a way of forcing us to confront the deepest questions of our faith. It breaks down our defenses, burns away our illusions, and brings us to a spot where we realize that the truest healing is that of the center. It’s a journey we don’t willingly select, however it is a path that transforms us if we allow it to.
And in that transformation, we discover that God’s purpose in our suffering will not be to crush us but to satisfy us in our need, to disclose Himself because the only One who can fill the void inside. We come to know that His power is perfected in our weakness, and in that place of give up, we discover a strength we never knew we could possess.
Photo Credit: SWN Design
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 offered as a guest speaker.
To learn more, go to the Jeff King Blog.
