Suffer Strong

Sometimes life does not go as we planned.

Perhaps you have lost a loved one, or your family member has just received a cancer diagnosis.  Maybe you are walking through a heartbreaking divorce and now are raising your kids as a single parent.

In their new book, *Suffer Strong, Jay and Katherine Wolf define suffering as “the space between what we thought would be and what is.”  Maybe you find yourself in that place.  If so, I want to encourage you today.

What if “the breaking of our hearts becomes the making of our hearts?”

What if the brokenness you are experiencing right now is the very thing that God will use to grow your faith in ways you never knew possible?  Friends, I believe this is true.

In their book, Jay and Katherine share about a special gift, a unique vase made by kintsugi, a Japanese art.  “Instead of throwing away the broken beloved pottery, they fix it in a way that doesn’t pretend it hasn’t been broken, but honors the breaking—and more so, the surviving, by highlighting those repaired seems with gold lacquer.” 

Isn’t it beautiful?  Each crack and broken place has been filled with gold. All the holes have been redeemed and made more valuable as the broken pieces fit together.

I want you to imagine God doing the same for you.  He takes your broken heart and pieces it back together.  He takes your broken story and turns it into a redemption story.

Friends, your brokenness does not have to define you.  In God’s hands, it can refine you into something stronger and more beautiful than before.

I don’t know about you, but this brings me hope.  Hope that God can use these difficult circumstances in my life.  Hope that my broken story can help another hurting heart.  Hope that God never wastes one tear.

I know this is not easy.  I pray you feel God’s comfort and love each day as you lean on Him.  He wants to walk with you through your suffering and bring purpose to your pain.

I want to end with a favorite quote from *Suffer Strong: “Life defines us, but suffering redefines us. Ultimately, hope refines us, transforming us from within in ways we never could have imagined.”

I believe God specializes in redeeming broken stories!  Hope this encourages you today.

Love, Jodi

*Amazon affiliate Link