Sometimes life feels like you are sitting in a puddle of muddy water–it can feel cold, dirty, rain soaked, unfair, distressing, ruined and downright miserable. Maybe you are in such a place right now or maybe your puddle feels so deep that it feels more like a pit that has no end in sight. I know this feeling…I have been there. It is likely you have also been there at some point, too, or if you haven’t yet been there, you probably will encounter suffering or discouragement at some point in your life because we live in a fallen world with imperfect people and painful situations…BUT there is HOPE in CHRIST!!!
In this post, I want to share some links to resources of books, songs, messages, scriptures as well as quotes and a poem that I have complied into this one post of things that have encouraged me through the years in my seasons of intense suffering and discouragement. I also want to share a brand new scripture print of 2 Timothy 1:7 that you can download near the bottom of this post and for the very first time ever, I am offering a FREE download of ALL of my other scripture prints as a GIFT to my readers in hopes that the scriptures will encourage you in the faith (I used to sell them in my ETSY shop). These particular scriptures are ones the Lord has laid on my heart to write out to encourage myself and others in times of distress because the word of God has the power to transform our hearts and minds! If this post encourages you in any way, please share it with anyone you know that is suffering or going through a difficult time in their lives, so that they can find encouragement, as well. Also, if you have found any other Christian resources really helpful to you, I’d love it if you would share in the comments to encourage others!
My hope is that these resources will encourage us all to keep the faith, fix our eyes on Christ, and to keep trusting that no matter what we encounter in this life, we can rest assured that God is Sovereign and that what He ordains is right. He is all knowing and all powerful. Because of His lovingkindness towards us in sending His son, Jesus, to die on the cross to save us from our sins, we can trust Him in these difficult times that don’t make sense to us. Paul Tripp says in his book New Morning Mercies “Peace comes when you rest in the fact that grace has connected you to the One who has overcome everything that could cause your heart to be troubled, and nothing can sever that connection”.
What the Lord ordains is for our good and His glory and we can rest in the comfort of that in times of distress. In our “muddy puddles” and “pits of despair” He is there with us, just as He was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, with Job in his ashes, and with Hagar when she was cast out into in the wilderness, and with Joseph when he was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his brothers then unfairly put into prison for years after that, to name a few. In all of those instances, the Lord brought forth good and He used those terrible circumstances that they each faced to grow their strength and trust in Him.
Perhaps God is using our muddy puddles or miry pits to shape us and mold us into who He wants us to be. If we resist this by splashing around and wallowing in our puddles too much, we will not be able to see what He is doing. It can feel like we are drowning, even though He is there with us all the time holding us up and calling us to trust in Him. In our despair, we may miss the reflection of His new creation in the puddle, as the picture at the top of this post shows. We may miss that the sun is coming out to dry up our tears. We may miss the warmth of the sun on our shoulders. We can choose to stay stuck in our puddle, or we can choose to wait patiently for the puddle to dry up and the Lord to do a new work in us. The choice is ours: to trust or not to trust. Boy, that is so hard sometimes!
You might find it strange that a blog that is called “Joyful Jane” would have so many posts written on the subject of suffering and trials, but through the years, during my own journeys through suffering, I have felt led to write several blog posts in order to share about those hard seasons to encourage others. I made scripture prints to go along with those posts and you can read those stories that inspired me to write at the links below:
“The Rock that Changed My Whole Year”
“The Lord Will Perfect that Which Concerns Me”
“The Good Shepherd-How Ducks Taught Me a Valuable Lesson on Trusting God”
Beautiful Thanksgiving Table Decor and a Beautiful Love Story
Since writing the posts above, I have encountered new valleys of suffering that have shaken me to my core. They have caused me to cry out to God like I have never cried out before and to seek HIS plan for my life in new ways. The Lord calls us to JOY– not just in the good times, but in ALL circumstances. Can we muster up this joy on our own? No, but the Lord says in His word that: “The Joy of the LORD is our strength.” Nehemiah 8:10.
Maybe this is part of the reason I have this blog…to test my faith and see if I will REALLY be joyful in the midst of the trials He has sent my way. I don’t know, but what I DO know is that He has always been faithful and good and has upheld me in my times of suffering. In the midst of that suffering, He has brought resources into my life that have helped me during those times and I want to share those to encourage others here. So, that is what I am endeavoring to do in this little space the Lord has given me to share with the world.
I still have so much to learn, but here is some of what the Lord has been teaching me through my years of suffering:
- God is sovereign, and we can trust Him in the good times and bad because ALL that He does is for our ultimate good and His glory.
- No one is exempt from suffering. It doesn’t matter how “good” we are, the Lord still uses trials in our life to refine us and draw us closer to Him. The Lord called Job in the Bible a “blameless and upright man”, and yet he suffered more than anyone in the Bible, aside from Jesus Himself, who He died on the cross and bore our sins.
- Suffering can actually be a gift from God.
Below you will find the resources I want to share that have greatly encouraged me in my suffering through the years:
Books to Encourage:
- I think it goes without saying, but memorizing and meditating on the truths of the gospel in scripture is the ultimate help for us in our suffering. The Bible is God’s word and sharper than any two-edged sword, and it has all we need for life and godliness in it. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, He used scripture to combat the attacks of Satan. That is what we are to do also when the devil tries to attack us (and he will). We can also sometimes benefit from Biblically-based outside sources to help us understand and discern situations (and point us back to the scriptures). Below I will list some of the sources that have encouraged me greatly in my own times of suffering.
- Book by Elisabeth Elliot titled “Suffering is Never for Nothing” (I have both the hard copy and the Audible version, but I absolutely love the reader on the Audible version for this one). I listened to this book and the one listed below three times because they were so good and impactful.
- Book by Elisabeth Elliot titled “A Path Through Suffering” (I have both the hard copy and the Audible version on this one, also. I don’t love the reader on the Audible version for this one as much, but she was still good).
- Book by R.T. Kendall titled “Total Forgiveness”. This book is lifechanging-I underlined so many things throughout this book. Highly recommend!
- Book by R.T. Kendall titled “God Meant it for Good”. This is a book about the life of Joseph and how God used the trials in Joseph’s life to save a nation from hunger and to show the power of forgiveness.
- Book by Jeremiah Burroughs titled “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment”. This book was written by an English Puritan minister in the 1600’s, so it is a very old book, but so rich with spiritual truths and really causes one to think differently about suffering.
- Book by Paul David Tripp titled “New Morning Mercies”. This is a daily gospel devotional that has one page to read for each day and then a short Bible passage to look up to go with each daily devotional. This has been extremely encouraging to me, while also challenged my thinking in such beneficial ways. I cannot recommend this book enough and I have gifted it to multiple friends and family.
- Bible study book titled “Sacred Suffering” by The Daily Grace Co. This is a 6 week study on the book of Job and the suffering he endured and what we can learn from Job’s suffering and our own suffering. There is much we can learn, but one thing we see in the book of Job is that while the Lord did not cause the suffering of Job, He allowed it. It is a hard concept to grasp, but an important one if we are to be steadfast in our trust of the Lord and praise of Him in spite of the suffering.
- The Daily Grace Co. also has many other studies and books on the subject of suffering, restoration, and trusting God.
- Book by Milton Vincent titled “A Gospel Primer”. We must preach the gospel to ourselves daily, and this book explains how to do this so well.
Songs to Encourage:
- Christ Our Wisdom by Sovereign Grace Music
- Whate’er My God Ordains is Right by Sovereign Grace Music and Bob Kauflin
- Afflicted Saint, to Christ Draw Near by Sovereign Grace Music and Bob Kauflin
- Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa
- I am the Lord’s I Know by Alanna Story
- His Glory and My Good by CityAlight
- Truth I’m Standing On by Leanna Crawford
- He Will Hold Me Fast by Keith and Kristyn Getty
- Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus by Shane and Shane
- Behold Our God by Sovereign Grace Music
- Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus by Shane and Shane
- O Love That Will Not Let Me Go by Chris Rice
- Great is Thy Faithfulness by Fernando Ortega
- Turn Your Eyes by Sovereign Grace Music
- All the Way My Savior Leads Me by Gregg Howlett and Melody St. Clair Randazzo
- He Leadeth Me by Sovereign Reawaken Hymns
- Always Good by Andrew Peterson
- Christ Our Hope in Life and Death by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Michael W. Smith
- The Cross of Christ by Todd Wright
- Give Me Jesus by Fernando Ortega
Messages on Suffering to Encourage:
- Thorn in the Flesh by R.T. Kendall
- Mysterious Reasons for Suffering by R.T. Kendall
- Give Your Life Away by Elisabeth Elliot
My Downloadable Calligraphy Scripture Prints to Encourage:
The Bible is full of encouraging scriptures for us to meditate on. Here is a small list of more scriptures to encourage us in the faith:
Bible Verses to Encourage:
I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, set my feet upon a rock, and established steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.
Psalm 40:1-3
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Deuteronomy 7: 9
Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Job 13: 15
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13
Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30: 4-5
How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have performed for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of mankind!
Psalm 31: 19
I sought the LORD and He answered me, And rescued me from all my fears.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no lack of anything. The young lions do without and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD will not lack any good thing.
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears And rescues them from all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. The afflictions of the righteous are many, But the LORD rescues him from them all.
Psalm 34: 4, 8-10, 17-19
Your mercy, LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like the great deep. LORD, You protect mankind and animals. How precious is Your mercy, God! And the sons of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You allow them to drink from the river of Your delights. For the fountain of life is with You; In Your light we see light.
Psalm 36: 5-9
Trust in the LORD and do good; Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
Psalm 37: 3-5
Why are you in despair, my soul? And why are you restless within me? Wait for God, for I will again praise Him For the help of His presence, my God. My soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have passed over me. The LORD will send His goodness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42: 5-8
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Psalm 55: 22
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26
A Prayer of David. Incline Your ear, LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy. Protect my soul, for I am godly; You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You. Be gracious to me, Lord, For I call upon You all day long. Make the soul of Your servant joyful, For to You, Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.
Psalm 86: 1-5
The LORD is righteous in all His ways, And kind in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call on Him, To all who call on Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry for help and save them.
Psalm 145: 17-19
Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked abandon his way, And the unrighteous person his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it produce and sprout, And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55: 6-11
Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.
Micah 7: 7
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will triumph in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like deer’s feet,And has me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8: 28
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8: 35-39
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10: 13
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.
Revelation 21: 2-6
Quotes That I Have Found Encouraging:
My friend Jennifer, who is a fellow calligrapher, posted this excerpt from the hymn “This is My Father’s World” on Facebook when she miscarried her baby recently. Her trust in God in her sadness was inspiring, so I wanted to share this encouraging verse that she wrote in her calligraphy.
I want to dedicate this blog post to several people dear to my heart: First is my dear friend Nancy, who has suffered greatly this year, when her daughter, Amy, and her two grandsons, William and John, passed away suddenly and tragically. I had the privilege of taking their pictures for many years, but I didn’t know that the last portraits I would take of them would become their obituary photos. They were long-time friends of mine, and they were kindest people.
In loving memory of Amy, William and John Kirk 2025
Lastly I want to also dedicate this blog post to my dear young niece, Emma, who in her own suffering wrote the most insightful poem in 2024 that encouraged me beyond measure during my own valley of suffering. Her poem was so impactful to me that I hired my friend Nancy (she is the talented lady who does the water color artwork on my calligraphy scripture prints and the mother and grandmother to the three pictured above) to write Emma’s poem out and to paint water color on it to illustrate it for me to frame and send to Emma as a surprise. Little did we know, that less than a year later Emma would leave this world and her suffering would end through her death as she entered eternal peace and rest in the arms of Jesus. Her poem hangs in my bathroom where I can see it daily and be reminded of the Lord’s faithfulness in our times of distress.
In loving memory of Emma Flournoy 2025
(she is holding the painting of her poem she wrote that I had made for her in the picture above)
I want to close with Emma’s poem in hopes that it will encourage you in the faith in your times of suffering like it has encouraged me…
“Spring”
Though now in the dark of winter
We dwell with labored breath,
A wisp of wind, a sigh in grass
Hint at the dying of death.
Though trees stand bleak and empty,
Bare arms held stark to the sky,
Things grow in the mire beneath them
Fed by leaves that first had to die.
Why did the trees have to drop their dear leaves?
They were bright in the dappling sun.
They shone with a cheer that fought back thoughts of drear;
Many a heart they had won.
All the spring and the summer the trees grew their growth,
With sunshine and roots-deep and rain.
It were a masterpiece, beauty in sight;
Why’d they have to let go of good gain?
But beauty is different in different ways;
Death leading to life isn’t new.
If the trees would resist this old cycle divine,
They’d get trapped in the stodge of “that’ll do.”
To open oneself to the dying of life,
To losing and emptying what you thought was good,
To spend spring and summer and autumn besides
Creating, and blooming, and growing strong wood
And yet have it broken, and taken from you . . .
Is that death? Is it life? Is it death to bring life?
Why do we need both a winter and spring?
Isn’t spring nice enough without desolation before?
But treasures of dark only grow in the dark,
And who can say treasures of lightness are more?
I don’t know, and it’s hard,
This death cycle cold.
Why it’s needed in lives, not just trees and seeds,
Is something I can’t very comfortably hold,
Because I’m a life, and I don’t like to die,
And it’s lonely in darkness and waiting and mold.
But the One who created these patterns of old
Is the One who came down to His creatures in thrall,
Himself dying in darkness, emptied untold
So to make life and kill death for us all.
The release of His life, indescribable gift:
Life given, not taken—abandoned for love.
Surrendered with sorrow; stripped, grieved beyond grasp
So that He could restore to me life from above.
So the trees stand in silence,
Have relinquished their leaves—
no covering to soften the coming of cold,
no beauty to rustle and whisper in wind
(even for speaking the praise of the King)
no green jewels to catch sunlight and cheer those who see—
If the trees can do this and trust that it’s good,
May I learn to be like them, root, leaf, and wood.
To release and be empty is not a loss true,
But leaves my hands open to fullness of You.
Death, damp, and decay are the very real cost;
But renewal comes creeping up under the frost.
Though dark and cold be overspread
The whole wide world of men,
We sit and wait with bated breath,
For spring will come again.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12 24
Poem written by Emma Christine Flournoy
(I Need to be More Like the Trees) January 2024
You can see Emma’s original post where she shared this poem HERE on Instagram here in 2024
Thank you for this beautiful email! I am sharing it with my son who struggles with scrupulosity OCD from a condition called PANS since he was 12. He’s 22 now, loves the Lord, and I think there is so much here to help him. I will keep it to reread for myself too! Such wonderful, scriptural truth in what you share. God bless you and your mission!
I’m so glad it was an encouragement to you and I hope it will also encourage your son!