Sustaining Faith

Editor’s note: This essay came in second place by blind judging for the 2026 Young Adults Writing Contest on the topic of “Sustaining Faith.”

Has there been a time in your life when your faith was tested, when your heart was left broken, and the suffering seemed pointless? Many of us have been there or will be. Before I share my story, I want to encourage us with this: our stories are not ultimately about us, but about our Savior.

My story of sustaining faith started when I was 7 years old and had my first seizure. I was hospitalized for over a week, and the doctors had to put me into an induced coma to stop the seizing. This major seizure turned my life upside down because everything I thought was certain suddenly became uncertain. Knowing we are not in control is quite different from experiencing the stark reality of the unknown. But even in the dark, we still have the light of hope because we still have Jesus.

For the most part, my medication controls the seizures, but sometimes they are triggered by stress, flashing lights, overstimulation, or lack of sleep. I would love to say I always stayed strong and was never discouraged when I had a seizure, but that would not be true. Those long and painful seasons took such an emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual toll on me that they left my faith and my body exhausted, my heart broken, and me completely dependent on Jesus.

One time, I felt especially shattered after I had been seizure-free for two years. Then, because of stress and lack of sleep, I had a seizure at a worship music camp. I was devastated like never before. At the camp, I was learning to play the guitar so I could lead worship, and at that moment, everything seemed absolutely pointless. I could not see any reason for the suffering. I could not understand why God would allow it to happen.

This June, I was about to be seizure-free for a year. However, after attending a Christian concert, I had a seizure. I took my emergency meds, and we prayed that God would shorten it, but he didn’t. I went from worshiping Christ to suddenly feeling hopeless and desperate. Have you also wrestled with the question, “Why does God allow this?” I do not doubt his all-powerful character, but I do sometimes question.

This is exactly where sustaining faith comes in. Sustaining faith helps us trust God because he is sovereign, loving, and good, even when the breakthrough does not come and when we do not understand why he allows the hurt. God uses trials to build in us a faith that endures. My suffering causes me to stop depending on my insight and instead rest in the grace Christ purchased for me. That shift brings glory to God.

Sustaining faith also gives purpose to our suffering. In my life, God has used physical issues to bring me closer to him, deepen my relationship with him, and teach me how to be content in Christ. But I also know that we will not always understand the purpose of our suffering on this side of heaven. That is where faith plays such an important role. Faith is a gift that helps us believe that even when we do not understand, God is still good, he is still our provider, and he is faithful.

To me, sustaining faith is an ongoing journey. What does sustaining faith look like? It looks like trusting that God is working behind the scenes for our good and his glory, even in the midst of suffering.

Lastly, sustaining faith helps us find balance between asking to be healed while also believing that the greatest miracle has already been given. The miracle is Jesus, the work he accomplished on the cross, and the victory he already holds. Right now, we live in the “already and not yet.” You and I will face trials, and God will use them to refine our sustaining faith. In the valleys of life, may God make Jesus enough for you and me, so we will learn to rest in him. Sustaining faith is not passive; it is active.

I want to encourage us that one day, when we see our glorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ face to face, we will be healed from our physical illnesses, and suffering will no longer exist. Our faith will finally be turned to sight on that beautiful day. Jesus Christ, who overcame sin, the devil, and death, will sustain our faith until then. The Apostle Peter explained this by saying, “These (trials) have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Isn’t that good news?

If you believe it is good news, like I do, then I challenge us to be bold in our sustaining faith and to go into this hurting world to tell people about the good news of Jesus Christ and what he has done. After all, our stories are not ultimately about us; they are about Jesus Christ.