Faith in Trials

Pearls Beneath the Waves

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My Daily Musings-July 7th, 2026

“Some days, you’ll feel like you’re sinking. But remember, the deepest seas hold the most precious pearls.”

Some days in life feel overwhelming. We may feel like we’re sinking beneath the weight of our trials, struggling just to keep our heads above water. Have you ever had a day like that?

Living with chronic illness, I know those feelings well. There are days when simply making it through feels like a victory. But even on my hardest days, I remind myself that the deepest seas hold the most precious pearls. Just as a pearl is formed in the depths of the ocean, God can bring something beautiful from our deepest struggles.

What if the trial you’re facing today is preparing something precious you can’t yet see? Hold on to hope. Tomorrow may bring renewed strength, unexpected joy, or a reminder that God has been with you all along. Even in the deepest waters, He never lets us sink beyond His reach.

Held in God’s Hands

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My Daily Musings-June 25th, 2026

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God sometimes seem to simply watch as we suffer?

Those are difficult questions, and I don’t know all the answers.

Listening to the audiobook Flying in Love by Chalon Linton, one of the characters asked this very question while his mother was dying of cancer. It made me think about my own life and the chronic illnesses I live with every day. While I have never faced something as terrifying as cancer, I do know what it feels like to struggle through hard days, to grieve the things my body can no longer do, and to sometimes battle feelings of darkness and discouragement.

So what keeps me going?

It is my faith that I am in God’s hands.

I believe that our Heavenly Father loves us deeply and is aware of every struggle we face. He knows our hearts, our fears, and the tears we cry when no one else sees them. While I may never fully understand why certain trials come into my life, I do believe that our challenges can shape us, refine us, and strengthen our faith if we allow them to.

Most of all, I believe I am never alone. Jesus Christ walks beside us in our suffering. Because of His Atonement, He understands every pain, every fear, every moment of exhaustion and weakness. He has felt it all.

Have you ever wondered why God allows suffering? And in your hardest moments, where have you felt His love and presence?

Even when the answers don’t come, I find peace in knowing that I am held in the hands of a loving Father and a compassionate Savior.

Strength Born From Hard Days

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My Daily Musings-May 30th, 2026

Roger Lee said, “Don’t get angry when life gets too hard on you, be thankful that you’ve been given the opportunity to learn to become stronger.” I really like this quote because it is so true. It also makes me think of the Kelly Clarkson song lyric, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

We are here on this earth to learn and grow and become more like our Savior and our Heavenly Father. Life was never meant to be easy all the time. Trials and hard moments help shape us into the people we are meant to become. Even though we sometimes wish our struggles could simply be taken away, they are often the very things that help us grow stronger in faith, compassion, and endurance.

I have days when I wish my chronic illness and all of its symptoms would disappear. Some days it makes life feel incredibly hard. But even in the middle of those struggles, I can see how it has changed me. It has made me stronger. It has brought me to my knees in prayer more than I used to, because prayer is often the only way I make it through my hardest days.

What trials in your life have helped shape you into a stronger person? How have your hardest moments brought you closer to God?

The Waiting Room

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Backstory:
Lately, I have spent a lot of time waiting—waiting in doctor offices, waiting for bloodwork results, waiting for answers that never seem to fully come. Living with chronic illness can feel exhausting, especially when tests say everything is “normal” while your body tells a different story. In the middle of the uncertainty, the endless appointments, and the quiet discouragement, I have been thinking about how much faith can be required simply to keep going. This writing was inspired by the emotional and spiritual waiting game that so many people silently live through every day. 

The Waiting Room

I wake up every day and get out of my bed,
But I just want to stay and pull the covers over my head.
I have another doctor’s appointment later in the day,
And the monotony is more than I can say.

Waiting is a normal part of having a chronic illness,
And it gets lonely sitting in the stillness.
My life feels like a waiting room,
Hoping for answers but resting in the gloom.

Getting my blood drawn and more tests done,
The heavy burden sometimes weighs a ton.
Waiting to be seen, not just treated as a number.
When I am so exhausted that I would rather slumber.

Then the tests show that everything is fine
When that’s not what my body says with every sign.
Constantly waiting feels like walking a road all alone,
Searching for answers that seem to be unknown.

But I pray every day for the strength to keep going,
And hope that my struggle on the inside isn’t showing.
I trust that my Heavenly Father will lead and guide me
And with Him by my side, from the burden I’ll be free.

The Takeaway: Sometimes faith is not found in immediate healing or clear answers, but in continuing to hope while living in the unknown. Even in the waiting, Heavenly Father sees our struggles, hears our prayers, and walks beside us through every unanswered question. 

Check out my YouTube short on this topic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAChXNyINdA

Both Kinds of Days

/ Christine Maynor / 2 Comments

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory:
This writing was inspired by a talk by Emily Belle Freeman called Best Days and Worst Days. It made me reflect on how life is filled with both bright seasons and difficult ones. Living with chronic illness has taught me deeply what those “worst days” can feel like—days of fatigue, discouragement, unanswered questions, and wondering how to keep going. But it has also taught me to recognize the “best days” more clearly—days when strength returns, gratitude rises, and hope shines again. Through it all, I have come to know that Jesus Christ is the constant source of light in every kind of day. 

Both Kinds of Days

We all have trials in this life
That can cause us unending strife.
Those like me with chronic illness
Know the sense of loneliness in the stillness.

On days when the fatigue is so bad,
That you have no choice but to feel sad.
Know that you are never alone in this journey,
Jesus will be there with you so you don’t need to worry.

If you are discouraged and the clouds are heavy over you,
Just remember that the sun always comes out to make all things new.
On your worst days, when your body is in so much pain,
Don’t give up because the rainbow comes after the rain.

Best days are possible because of your Savior, Jesus Christ
Who suffered everything and paid the ultimate price.
On your worst days when you don’t know if you can keep going,
Know that because of Him, there is hope always growing.

Jesus is there for you on your worst day
And with you, He will always stay.
When discouragement feels heavy in your heart,
Just reach out to your Savior, and from you, He will never depart.

The Takeaway: Our days may change between joy and struggle, but the Savior does not. Even on our darkest days, His light is still there—sometimes hidden behind clouds, but never gone. Because of Him, hope always rises again. 

Here's the link to my YouTube short video on this topic:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNg_ss9EV6I

Check out my Facebook page for more inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/faithcenteredinspiration