Do you know the saying, “Misery loves company?” I think there is at least a small measure of truth in a lot of sayings, and perhaps this one especially.
Not because suffering wants others to suffer alongside it, but because pain longs to know it is not alone. There is something deeply comforting about hearing another person say, “I have been there too,” especially when you feel lost in the middle of your own grief or struggle.
Sometimes we do not even need someone to fix us. We simply need the reassurance that survival is possible. That healing is possible. That someone else walked through the darkness and somehow found light again.
We can learn so much from others. Whether they have walked through our exact heartbreak or struggle does not always matter. Sometimes simply hearing someone else’s story and knowing they survived it can bring an incredible sense of hope.
When I was in the early stages of my trauma, I soaked up everything I could find from anyone willing to offer even the smallest source of comfort, wisdom, or encouragement.
There were several blogs I found that have long since become inactive, yet what they shared was invaluable to me. There was also a podcast that at the time it became a lifeline in some of my darkest moments.
And of course, there were books. I have read quite a number of them over the past few years. I would not normally consider myself an avid reader, but during that season I could not get enough. I wanted to heal. I wanted someone to help me understand what I was experiencing. I felt completely overwhelmed and had no idea what I was doing, so I searched for anyone who seemed to have a better idea than me.
What I eventually discovered is that no one truly has it all figured out. Each person seems to learn something different through their own suffering, and I think that is exactly why sharing matters so much. We all walk through different kinds of grief, trauma, pain, and restoration, and we often find healing in different ways.
I have said before that there is no one-size-fits-all path to healing. What deeply helps one person may not resonate with another. Yet there is something profoundly comforting about learning from one another along the way.
So, in the spirit of sharing the resources that helped me, encouraged me, and challenged me, I have decided to begin a new series here.
My first resource in this series is Joni Eareckson Tada.
Growing up, her name was very familiar to me. Most of my Christian friends and family knew her story as well. Yet strangely, I think that familiarity caused me to become somewhat desensitized to the weight of what she had actually endured. At least for me, her story felt distant for many years — almost like the stories of the Psalmists sometimes can feel distant when we have not yet experienced deep suffering ourselves.
Or perhaps you have never heard her story before. If not, I would strongly encourage you to look her up and hear her tell it herself. She has an incredible testimony marked by both suffering and steadfast faith.
Joni’s story began in 1967 when, at just 17 years old, she dove into shallow water with friends and fractured her vertebrae, leaving her paralyzed as a quadriplegic. Her life and testimony are deeply marked by both struggle and God’s sustaining grace. Her words and honesty about suffering, disappointment, hope, and faith have become an incredible encouragement to me.
One thing that impacted me deeply was not simply her survival, but her continued perseverance. Let me reiterate that — her continued struggle.
So many of us desperately pray for healing from whatever pit we find ourselves in, and sometimes God graciously provides it. But sometimes healing does not come in the way we hoped, and we are left trying to understand how to move forward in the midst of ongoing pain.
Joni’s testimony became a guide for me in learning how someone can not only survive suffering, but continue to cling to hope and even find joy within it. Her life reminded me that God’s goodness is not absent simply because suffering remains.
Her testimony was invaluable to me, and I am deeply grateful for the way God has used her life to encourage so many others, myself included.
I hope her story becomes an encouragement to you as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkerUw2YJY
