2025.08.03 | Faithfulness When It Hurts
This blog is based on the sermon from August 3, 2025.
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.
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.
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…
He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His wounds we are healed.”
— Isaiah 53:4–5
He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His wounds we are healed.”
— Isaiah 53:4–5
Missed the message? Watch it here:
Posted in Sunday Sermon
Posted in Jeff Potts, Paul, Book of Acts, Faith in Difficult Times, Prayer, Worship
Posted in Jeff Potts, Paul, Book of Acts, Faith in Difficult Times, Prayer, Worship
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Archive
2026
January
February
March
2026.03.01 | I’ve Been Around Jesus My Whole Life, But My Picture of Him Was Too Small 2026.03.08 | I Didn’t Realize How Distracted I’d Become at Church2026.03.15 | When the Leaves Look Good but the Fruit Is Missing2026.03.22 | Watching My Kids Helped Me Understand the Two Sons2026.03.29 | The Stewardship of the "Vineyard"
April
May
2026.05.03 | I Told Myself I’d Serve When Life Slowed Down2026.05.10 | I Finally Understood What Wholehearted Love Looks Like. I Was Holding It.2026.05.17 | I Keep Running Into This Question, and I'm Running Out of Reasons to Ignore It.2026.05.24 | I’ve Been Trying to Impress God for Years. I’m Tired.
June
2026.05.31 | I've Always Assumed Global Mission Was for a Certain Kind of Person.2026.06.07 | I Know the Gospel. I Just Don't Talk About It Much Anymore.2026.06.14 | I've Been Searching for Something. I Think Sunday Told Me What It Is.2026.06.21 | I've Been Running on Empty for a While. Sunday Gave Me Something to Hold Onto.2026.06.28 | I Keep Praying for Stability. Maybe I Should Be Praying for Something Else.
2025
August
2025.01.26 | The Sower, the Seed, and the Soil2025.02.02 | Growing in God’s Kingdom2025.02.09 | When Small Things Become Something Big2025.02.16 | A Call to Faith and Hope2025.02.23 | Finding the Ultimate Treasure2025.03.02 | Finding My Worth in Christ2025.03.09 | Are You Living with Eternity in Mind?2025.03.16 | Are We Missing What’s Right in Front of Us?2025.03.23 | What If Following Jesus Cost You Everything?2025.03.30 | When What You Have Feels Like Not Enough2025.04.06 | When the Storm Feels Bigger Than Your Savior
September
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