When Pain Meets Purpose: Learning to Overcome

• By candidasullivan
• July 13, 2026
• No Comments

I cried about my hands today. It was so unexpected that it caught me off guard. I saw someone with beautiful nails, and it triggered something inside me. As I walked to my vehicle, the sadness bubbled in my heart. The realization hit me that it’s not possible for me to have beautiful nails, and in that moment it broke my heart.  

The enemy pounced on my vulnerability and tried to make me feel bad about it. But God showed me something beautiful amid my pain. It’s possible to feel both gratitude for what I have and sadness for what was taken from me. It’s possible for me to celebrate what I can do and be sad about things beyond my ability. 

While I wouldn’t trade all the wisdom and purpose of my hands, I sometimes feel sadness about what I’ve lost and what I’ve had to endure because of it. 

Even before this happened, I was thinking about what it means to truly overcome. I’ve been working on a book about it for years, but something still feels unfinished about it all. So I asked God to show me. 

I’ve been studying this verse. 

Romans 12:21 KJV

21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

In the womb, the evil tried to overtake me. But even then, God showed up for me. He spared me. Even though He allowed it to happen. If I’m being honest, that’s been one of the hardest things to understand and accept. 

God knew it would cause me tremendous pain in my life, and yet He allowed it. Because He knew the good that would come out of it. He knew the purpose was greater than the pain. 

Overcoming is about trusting God. Trusting that He knows what is best for us and trusting Him to help us with it all. It’s about taking it to Him over and over again, if needed. 

And not allowing the evil to come in between us. The evil overcomes us when it changes our heart into something that doesn’t reflect or align with Christ. 

I can’t help that the amniotic bands attacked me and damaged my hands. But I do get to decide how I want it to change me. I can allow bitterness to rise up in me and make me angry all the time. I can allow envy to make me jealous of others. Or I can allow God to use it all in a beautiful way, by His grace and according to His will. 

Jesus trusted the Father’s will completely. He surrendered His life, knowing the Father would use His suffering to bring salvation to the world.

John 16:33 KJV

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 

We overcome through Jesus. We fight from His victory, not for it. 

True overcoming comes from Him. When we take it to Him, He can help us to overcome the pain and use our circumstances to glorify God.