When Your Pain Becomes Someone Else’s Hope

• By candidasullivan
• August 25, 2026
• No Comments

Do you know the significance of helping someone else?

For the last few weeks, several people have told me how much my writing and videos help them. I usually acknowledge their kind words, thank them for telling me, and then let it go. I try not to let criticism go to my heart and break my spirit, or praise go to my head and cause me to believe that I deserve the praise and glory. 

But God allowed me to hear it louder, deeper than I have before. He knew that I heard the words, but I didn’t truly hear them in my soul. And that’s where He needed me to hear them. 

I realized God wasn’t asking me to take the glory. He was asking me to receive the confirmation. There is a difference. I can let someone’s words encourage me without making their praise my identity. I can receive the evidence that the work matters and then give the glory back to God.

When we obediently follow the Lord, it touches people and helps them in ways we don’t fully understand. Our obedience and willingness for God to use us give the Spirit room to work. Obedience places what God has given me back into His hands and gives Him room to use it according to His will.

What a beautiful experience. To be so connected to God that we can help someone else through the connection. That’s when I truly felt it—the power and beauty of being able to use my gifts to help someone else. 

So, I took the feeling back to God and honored Him with praise for what He does through me. He allows me to work with Him. 

Many times in my life, I have prayed for a helper—someone who would show up with the words I so desperately needed to hear. In my darkest hours, I have begged God for a word of comfort. Something that would ease my pain, give me hope, and give me the strength to keep going. 

Sometimes the things we desire in our lives become our gifts. 

I love words. I cherish them, write them down, and save them. So when they connect with you in deep ways, it truly touches me. We may never talk about it. You may never share your part of the story with me, but when I write, I feel you. 

I may not know your name or your situation, but in the moments as I write, I feel your pain. 

Sometimes I cry as the words fill the screen because I’m connected to your pain. Sometimes I pray that I will write exactly what you need. 

The truth is, I don’t fully understand the magnitude of this gift from the Lord, but I know it’s special. And I know it connects me with others. 

For years, the enemy has made me feel ashamed of having it. He’s tried so many ways to silence me. The hurt he’s heaped on over the years could have buried me, but God has shown me how to use it for growth. Every experience better equips me to help someone else. 

Romans 5:3-4 KJV

³ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

I can write about tribulations because I’ve experienced them. And each one has led me deeper into a relationship with God. It has revealed Him in ways I would have never known before. My pain has led me to hope. 

To a hurting soul, hope is so beautiful. It introduces a different kind of question and perspective. Pain makes us think it is the end, while hope reminds us it is a new beginning. 

Giving someone a glimpse of God amid their struggle and pain is a beautiful experience. So many times I’ve been the one hurting, desperately clinging to any sign of hope I can find. I know the power and the feeling it produces when hope lands inside a troubled soul. 

Sweet friend, never underestimate the significance of helping someone else. You may think you only offered a few words, said a prayer, shared your story, or showed someone kindness. But when someone is hurting, the smallest glimpse of hope can feel like a lifeline.

Maybe God once sent someone to carry hope to you so that one day, you could carry hope to someone else.

Through salvation, we are all connected. You are not alone in your pain. We are the body of Christ. I believe it pleases God when we help each other.