What God Grows from Bitter Places

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Backstory:
So recently I got into baking with sourdough. I am fascinated by sourdough because it’s just flour and water that is fermented in a jar. Once it is fermented, the baker can bake with it and make delicious bread and also add it to other recipes. Sourdough is also very good for your body, especially the digestive system. So thinking about the magic that is sourdough made me think of how I could apply this principle to my own life. I think that the sourdough could be our trials, struggles and weaknesses in our lives. We have to go through those things to learn and grow. God our Father could be likened to a baker when they are baking sourdough recipes. Even though our trials might taste sour at first and they might not smell very good or be enjoyable to go through, with the help of the Master Baker, we can turn our trials into something beautiful and delicious.

What God Grows From Bitter Places

If we mix equal parts of flour and water together,
Then if we let it ferment then it becomes sour and we might think that it could smell better.
But the sour part of this process is what makes it better altogether,
For after it becomes sour, then you can use it to create beautiful recipes that will feel like a pleasure.

We are here in this life with a clear purpose to perform,
We have trials and struggles that can make our lives feel like a terrible storm.
Those times in our lives are meant to help us grow and develop who we want to be so we can grow into a more beautiful form,
But when we are going through those hard times we probably feel inside anything but warm.

But we were not meant to go through this life alone,
We were not thrown down here on this earth to feel unknown.
We have a loving Father up above who created us and to Him we are always known,
We can easily talk to Him in our minds through prayer and we don’t even need to pick up a phone.

Our trials can be like the sourdough mixture,
They might seem really sour and disgusting and not meant to make our lives richer.
God can be likened to a Master Baker who can help us see our lives as a beautiful picture,
If we could see our trials through His lens then they might not seem like a cold and bitter winter.

If we just put our trials into God’s hands He can show us a better way,
All we have to do is trust in His purpose and just say, “Come what may”.
Yes, our trials might seem sour and like all they do is hurt us and this is easy to say,
But if we trust in the Master Baker then He can convert those hard times into a beautiful display.

The Takeaway: Sometimes our trials can leave us feeling sour and upset. We need to trust that the Master Baker or our Heavenly Father has a plan for us that is better than our plan for our lives.

When God Sees What Others Don’t

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Backstory:

So a few years ago my health started going downhill. I started feeling a lot of fatigue when I did little things and my body started having pain that I hadn’t felt before. There have also been many other symptoms through the last few years. I have an autoimmune disease and no one can really tell me what is going on in my body. Having to live this way is a lonely road sometimes. I feel like no one really understands how I feel and that no one will ever understand. But I just need to remember that my loving Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ always understand and they will always be there for me when I feel like no one understands.

When God Sees What Others Don't

Sometimes I wonder, “does anyone really understand how I feel?”
Some days I just can’t imagine that anyone can understand and this struggle is real.
I have amazing friends and family in my life and that is a big deal,
But even though they are very caring and supportive, no one can really understand my ordeal.

I have days when I can barely imagine getting up and facing another day,
Some days I feel so much pain in my body and it’s more than I can say.
Then on those days when my body is weak and my emotions are at the surface I wish that I could live another way,
And it feels like all my emotional skies will be permanently gray.

Then I have better days emotionally and it feels like the sun will come out,
And then I feel like I will make it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I feel like my mental health has been in a figurative drought,
Then the sun comes out and emotionally I feel so good and that feeling I don’t want to be without.

When I feel like no one will ever understand me,
I just need to remember that even though I may feel alone then I just need to get on bended knee.
And then I feel better and I am better able to see,
That my Heavenly Father is always there to hear my every plea.

I should also remember that my loving Savior is always there,
To hear about everything I’m going through and He will always care.
And even when I feel that nothing in my life is fair,
He will always be there for me to help my heart repair.

The Takeaway: We all go through times when we feel like no one understands what we are going through and we might feel alone in our struggles. But we just need to remember that our Heavenly Father and our Savior always are there for us and they always understand how we feel. So we should never feel alone.

Trusting the God Who Comes Through

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Backstory:
With my therapist I have been working on my faith and trust in God lately. I have noticed that if I trust in Him and have faith that I can do hard things with His Divine help. Some days with my chronic illness, it is hard to get out of bed but I do it because I have to. On those days especially I need Him more and I just pray that He will help me and give me the strength I need to make it through the day. My faith isn’t always strong throughout the day. My faith wavers sometimes too. But when I trust in Him to help me, He always comes through and helps me.

Trusting the God Who Comes Through

I have been thinking lately that I have been growing in my faith and trust in God,
Sometimes I feel like I can’t make it without Him and that He is always the leader of the squad.
I have learned that I can always count on Him and that is definitely not odd,
He will always be by my side and with me He will always trod.

I sure have days when I don’t know if I can make it on my own,
And I have days when all I feel like doing is to just moan.
On those days I need to put my trust in Him and I don’t even have to pick up a phone,
I know that with my Heavenly Father my tears and fears will always be known.

I have been through some things lately that I didn’t know if alone I could do,
Sometimes I feel like I just can’t stop feeling blue.
And just when I feel like no one has a clue,
He will be there for me because he is stuck to me like glue.

So on my hardest days I just need to trust that He will always be there for me,
I need to remember that with Him I will truly be able to see.
When I’m feeling down then I don’t need to worry because with me He will always be,
Because of this knowledge I can always feel free.

So how can I remember this on a hard day?
Well I just need to trust the Almighty and to Him I should pray.
And when all the skies in my life feel gray,
For during those times He will help me find a way.

The Takeaway: We all have hard days when we don’t know if we can keep going. But we need to trust that our Heavenly Father will always be by our side to help us through those hard days. We just need to pray to Him and invite Him into our lives and He will be there.

Growing Through God’s Classroom

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My Daily Musings-Jan.29th, 2026

I recently read a quote describing suffering as a “school of experience.” That phrase stayed with me.

So often, we see our trials only as pain to endure or burdens to escape. But what if they are also classrooms—places where God patiently teaches us? Places where faith is tested, trust is deepened, and hearts are refined.

Scripture often compares our trials to fire—not meant to destroy us, but to purify us. Just as gold is refined by heat, our souls are shaped through difficulty. Suffering can strip away what is temporary and draw us closer to what is eternal.

I believe we are on this earth to learn and to grow. Our trials are not evidence of God’s absence, but often invitations to trust Him more fully. In time, what feels like suffering may reveal itself as sacred instruction—forming us into people of deeper faith, humility, and love.

Here are a couple questions to ask yourself: How might your current trials be teaching you something about God or about yourself? What would it look like to trust God more deeply in the middle of your struggle—not just after it passes?

When Faith Starts Small

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Backstory:
I have been trying to help my faith and trust in God grow. I have read many times about faith being like a mustard seed. A mustard seed is super small and if I exercise my faith like that seed then it could grow into a big tree. And if I have enough faith in God, I could move mountains and there wouldn’t be anything I couldn’t do with my Heavenly Father by my side. I do have faith most days but I couldn’t even imagine trying to move a mountain even with God by my side. Maybe I don’t need to move a mountain but some days when my health isn’t good and my body is physically so weak and exhausted, I feel like I am moving figurative mountains by just getting out of bed and doing my daily tasks around the house. I just have to keep going and with God by my side, I can do anything.

When Faith Starts Small

I have been thinking lately about the passage in the Bible about faith being like a mustard seed,
It says that if our faith is that small then we can move mountains and I think most days more faith I need.
I also read that a mustard seed is a really small seed but it can grow into a really big tree and thinking about it that way would help me succeed,
I have been thinking about this and how some days I feel like my faith needs more nourishment to proceed.

I do feel like most of the time I have faith and that is a good treat,
But I can’t even imagine having enough faith to move a mountain for that would be quite a feat.
I have also heard that with God nothing is impossible and that sounds really sweet,
So basically with God by my side there is no enemy I couldn’t defeat.

I feel like sometimes I have days when my trials seem considerable,
And carrying them seems really uncomfortable.
But knowing that I am not alone always seems preferable,
Because life on this earth sometimes can be quite unpredictable.

One of my favorite songs asks that when life seems like too much that Jesus takes the wheel,
I think that with Jesus at the wheel it sounds like a good deal.
Some days I feel like the only way I can make it through is to kneel,
But I always know that with divine help my heart will have time to heal.

The Takeaway: We are told that we should have faith like a mustard seed. With even that small amount of faith, with God by our side, we could move mountains. Our trials might seem like mountains we have to climb some days. We should trust that with God with us, we can do anything.