2025.08.03 | Faithfulness When It Hurts

There are days I feel like love is leaving bruises…not visible ones, but deep ones.

These days, I’m stretched thin. Caring for my mom as her health declines has been both a privilege and a weight. She’s appreciative, but often negative. And the environment around her doesn’t help. My father is toxic, and my siblings make everything harder. Trying to care for her while navigating all of that has been painful. It’s a strange tension… wanting to love well, but needing to protect your peace. I’ve already started creating some distance.

And then there’s home… raising my own kids, showing up for them emotionally and spiritually, even when I feel like I have nothing left. There are days I ask God, “Is this what faithfulness looks like?”

When the sermon focused on Paul and Silas… how they helped a hurting girl and ended up beaten and jailed for it, I felt that. The hurt that comes from doing good. It stayed with me so deeply that I opened up Acts 16 again later that night.

What they endured… and how they responded with prayer and worship in the middle of it… that moved me. They didn’t let pain make them bitter. They stayed faithful. They still believed Jesus was worth it.

That’s the kind of faith I want. Not a faith that’s only strong when life is easy, but one that holds on even when love is exhausting, when it costs more than I wanted to give.

Jesus never avoided pain. He entered it. And He promises to be with us in ours. That’s enough to keep going.

Missed the message? Watch it here: