I hate suffering. I hate physical suffering, and emotional suffering, and walking dark valleys. I especially hate seeing someone I love go through a time of suffering. It’s such a feeling of helplessness when we cannot rescue a loved one from a place of pain and sorrow. Watching my mom suffer through her final days was beyond agony, yet I saw something else, too. I saw her lean into her Savior for strength even as she strained toward Glory. I heard her speak over and over again of Jesus—I can hear her in my memory, “I love Him so much.” I witnessed victory in how she handled the pain and difficulty. She KNEW this pain was temporary, she KNEW where she was going, and she KNEW no sickness would change what awaited her.

Sometimes when we’re deeply hurting, we want to separate ourselves from others—to sit alone in our ash pile, whether to grieve or to complain or to question why. It’s okay to have those moments. God already knows what we’re thinking, so we might as well just say it all out loud and get it out of our systems. But we don’t want to stay there. When we lean into Jesus, we find our victory. “Victory in Jesus! My Savior forever!” Receive it. Believe it. He brings us to victory when we place our lives in His capable, loving, nail-scarred hands.