Where is God in Your Suffering? - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - February 26, 2026
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Psalm 34:18 NKJV
I spent most of my time lying in bed with an ice pack on my back. I prayed for God to heal me, but the relentless pain continued. Every so often, I’d hobble on my cane to go to physical therapy, but someone was always waiting for me when I returned home.
Iva, my Black Labrador Retriever, remained with me constantly. She was my guide dog, and as a team we walked everywhere, but now crippling pain interrupted our working relationship. She still wanted to be near me. Each time the nerve pain shot through my body, I screamed. Iva jumped up from her resting place on my bed and kissed my face.
As much as my body ached, my heart ached because Iva and I could no longer walk together, so my husband exercised her after he came home from work. They’d return to tell me about the deer Iva made friends with or the Halloween decorations Iva intently watched. Before long, Iva’s favorite decoration on their walks was a Christmas inflatable Mickey Mouse.
A few epidural injections gave me some mobility. Iva and I walked while I used a cane, but I still needed a major spinal surgery. After the surgery, she took her post on my bed again.
Part of my physical therapy included walking with a walker. As I did several laps in the driveway, my husband found Iva watching me from the front door. He brought her to me on a leash.
“She can’t guide me on a walker!” I told him. I was wrong. That’s precisely what she did.
Through that year, God seemed silent many times. Why did He allow the pain and inability to walk to last for so long? Prayers seemed to go up, but answers rarely came down.
As disappointment loomed, I grew quite discouraged and began spending afternoons lying in bed, mindlessly watching TV. It was an escape from the ashes of my life.
I began to doubt God. The enemy infiltrates our solitude and whispers in the dark.
He asks, “Would a good god do this?”
Making it through each day became a struggle, but there was Iva, a portrait of my heavenly Father’s love.
It took me a long time to realize that God sends His comfort through other people and, yes, even through a dog.
Perhaps you are going through physical pain or illness today. Maybe you are dealing with depression, anxiety, or some other form of suffering. Do you feel like God doesn’t hear your prayers? Do you begin doubting His goodness because of His silence?
Friend, I want to reassure you that suffering doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you or that God isn’t good. God allowed His own Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer as He was beaten and ridiculed and then died on a cross.
We can’t measure God’s love by our circumstances. Look around you. Who has God placed in your life? Is it a friend or a spouse? Is there a fluffy cat or loving dog watching over you, wondering when you will get well?
We think God is silent, but He has given us the gift of pets and people to shower us with His love because He doesn’t want us to be alone in our suffering.
Look at our verse. God is near to those who have a broken heart. He is closer to you now than when life goes great. He has compassion for us. As our Creator, He has blessed us with friends, furry and human, as an extension of His love.
He heals the brokenhearted.
And binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 NKJV
God never intends to leave us with a broken heart. He wants to heal the aching within. Although He may not heal our bodies or restore a relationship, He does tend to the state of our hearts in His time.
I grew discouraged and depressed during that long battle with scoliosis. I allowed it to steal my joy and peace, but I knew I needed to find something to thank God for, so I wouldn't become bitter. I thanked Him for Iva and the many ways she showed me love. I thanked Him for the visitors and cards.
Friend, what can you thank God for today? While God is silent, He isn’t still. Look for the small things that remind you of His love. Allow Him to make beauty from the ashes of your life.
Lord God, I often think You have stopped listening, but You hear every prayer. While you haven’t sent the relief I want, you have sent someone to give me joy. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
Photo credit: ©Unsplash/Rafal Jedrzejek
Carolyn Dale Newell is a best-selling author and certified speaker. She knows the bitter taste of suffering from blindness to chronic pain. Her passion is to encourage women to keep their eyes on Jesus and not their circumstances in her devotional, Embers of Endurance: Rising Above Chronic Pain and Illness. You can connect with Carolyn on her website and her women’s ministry group on Facebook.
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If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
