Do you ever go through something horrible and wonder why? Why this? Why me? Why now? Perhaps you have crossed the valley and made it to the other side only to look back and think, now what? The storm has passed but you see no fruit. You made it through but you don’t know why. You know there is a reason for every trial, but you can’t find the answer to this one.

I get it. I know. I’ve been there. It’s tough fighting day in and day out without knowing why it’s happening. But it’s worth it. Oh dear one, I promise it’s worth it. No, you won’t always know the answer, but you learn from it and you grow through it. Jesus has a beautiful plan for your life. He takes your brokenness and makes a masterpiece. Jesus redeems the bad and ugly, the stuff you want to forget, the hurt, the scars. He knows what He’s doing, even if you can’t feel it.

You are not alone. We all struggle. We all have pain. Everyone is broken in some way or another. I’ve struggled for many years. Painful memories. Mental illnesses. The constant battle to choose joy over sorrow, hope over defeat, love over hate. Countless times I had cried, “Why Lord?”. Somehow I had convinced myself that knowing the reason why, would help me get through the trial. The silence hurt. I felt abandoned. A feeling no person likes. Then one day when I was brought to a moment of complete brokenness, I surrendered and said “Lord, help me.”.

I realized I wasn’t going to win the battle on my own. Looking back, I saw I had never won a battle on my own. Jesus had been there every step of the way, even when I didn’t feel it. I hadn’t crossed the valleys, He had. I hadn’t swam the seas, He had. He had carried me through each storm. I had been asking why everytime instead of asking for help. When I finally let go of needing to know why I was going through a storm and surrendered to Jesus to work in me, He answered.

“For her,” Jesus said.

I cried. In the storm, I had been thinking of myself. Not once had I thought that what I went through would be able to help someone else. I was able to encourage, help, and comfort a dear friend in a way I would have never been able to if I had not gone through it myself. Jesus took something awful and used it in a beautiful way.

So perhaps when you are going through the next battle and you are tempted to ask “why”, think about the possibility of how it may help someone else. Ask Jesus to help you through it. Accept the challenge and think “I’ll go through this for them.”. Life is messy, but it is beautiful. Jesus is faithful to walk beside us in the quiet and in the hurricane. He is our Hope, our Light, our Help in times of trouble.

You are loved. You are wanted. Jesus loves you so much He suffered for you. He knows your pain. He knows the struggle. Jesus sees you. He is with you. When your heart is heavy and it all doesn’t make sense, rest in Jesus. He knows the reason why. Let Jesus take the weight of your shoulders and let Him guide you through this battle. There is so much more at work than we can comprehend. Jesus cares.

You are wanted. You are loved.

Jasmine Schmidt is a small town girl with a huge heart for others. She loves writing historical fiction for young adults as well as emotion-driven poetry. Jasmine has been writing from an early age and wants to share love, hope, and Jesus with her readers. She is working toward having her novels published one day and fine tuning her craft daily. Jasmine has several short stories and poems published in three Inspire anthologies as well as an article for the Inspire Christian Writers blog. She blogs monthly at https://lovedreamstowrite.blogspot.com and can be found on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_jadesparks_ and Twitter https://twitter.com/JadeSparks_