Two broken hearts, one faithful Father

As soon as we saw the finished manuscript, we knew Hope When It Hurts was going to be a very special book; and so as a marketing team we wanted a special way to launch it. As part of that, one of the things we’ve been running is the Hope When It Hurts stories project.

The premise was simple: we would ask people to share a photo and their story of how God has given them hope in hard times from the Hope When It Hurts Facebook page.

But frankly, the results have been astounding. It has been such a joy to have stories of God’s faithfulness popping into my inbox over the last couple of months. Stories about different people from all over the world facing all kinds of heartaches: chronic illness, infertility, abuse and accidents. But stories about the same Almighty Father, who has been good to every one.

So here are just two stories of those—but if you haven’t already, do head to the Hope When It Hurts Facebook page to see them all:

Emily’s story:

When I was 18 I was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition. My hands feel weak and are at times unresponsive, my legs grow tired easily, and my nerves cry out in pain at their servitude. My muscles are shrinking over time and my balance and stability on my feet is poor. I struggle with controlling small movements, I drop things, I get angry. But most of all, I feel afraid for the future.



There's a lyric from a Casting Crowns track that says, “There's a place where fear has to face the God you know.” And for me it captures perfectly the stand-off that has to happen when fear and pain dominate your thinking. When fear meets God, there's only ever going to be one winner. Fear is forced to back down when it comes face to face with the mercy and the grace of our King.


…But conquering fear is not a one time thing. It's a day by day thing.

And I've found that when fear rises, the best thing I can do is to speak the truth about God. Not just about all that He has shown me through His Word but by re-iterating the unfaltering faithfulness that He has shown to me in my life. There are peaks of God's faithfulness that stand out in the landscape of my mind, and when I count the mercies and the blessings and the answered prayers, and the ways in which God has used other people to show me more of Himself, then my fear and frustration falls down in the presence of the Rock of Ages.

God may not protect me from further suffering to come. But the promise-maker and the promise-keeper has promised me this, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”, and on this promise I can stand.

Karen’s story:

To the outsider, it looked like my husband and I perfectly timed the purchase of our first home (and dog) just before announcing our pregnancy. But the reality is that our journey began with nearly three years of infertility—days, months and years of sadness, confusion, and most regrettably, heavy questions for God about how this could possibly be the story he was writing.



I had always dreamed of having a family, but this vision for my life was fading and consumed every corner of my heart. I had to hold fast to the promise that my worth and identity would never be in whether or not I was a mother, but fully rested in the fact that “to all who did receive [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).



Our son was born in 2014, and when I thought the challenges were behind us, we had a miscarriage the following year. God almost instantly began using the hardship of loss to show me afresh the power of His word, and to minister to others who carried the same burden. Though 2016 brought us a daughter (and we praise God deeply for her!), having children doesn’t erase a painful journey as many think. Rather, the Lord continues to use these experiences to reveal his purpose and his power as he shapes me into the woman he’s calling me to be.

Would you like to be part of the Hope When It Hurts stories project? To share your story, email hopewhenithurts@thegoodbook.com