When the Spirit Lifts You Through the Struggle: John’s Journey from Bitterness to Obedience

Frank Wible
Oct 27
3 min read

John never liked silence. He filled his days with noise, music, podcasts, work calls, anything to keep from being alone with his thoughts. He said he believed in God, but if he was honest, he didn’t want to hear from Him. Because hearing from God meant facing what he’d been avoiding for years.

When everything goes quiet, that’s often when God begins to speak.

It started after his business collapsed. He had poured everything into it, his savings, his time, his pride. When it failed, he told people it was the economy, bad timing, poor partnerships. But deep down, he knew it had become an idol. It wasn’t just a business that fell apart, it was the thing he had built his identity around.

In the months that followed, bitterness settled in. He stopped going to church. He couldn’t stand to hear anyone talk about trusting God’s plan. He believed in God’s power, sure, but he didn’t trust His timing. The prayers stopped. The hope faded.

One night, he drove to a small lake outside town, parked the truck, and just sat there. The air was still, heavy with the smell of rain. He turned off the engine and let the silence press in. It felt like the weight of years caught up all at once. He whispered, “Why’d You let me fail?”

At that moment, the wind picked up. A distant rumble of thunder rolled across the water. The trees swayed. He closed his eyes and felt the movement, not just around him, but inside him. A thought rose in his heart so clearly it startled him: I’m not done with you.

The Spirit often moves through the same storms we pray to escape.

He didn’t hear it audibly, but it was unmistakable. It was as if God had waited for the noise to stop so He could finally speak. John remembered the verse from Ezekiel that he’d read years ago: “The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the Lord’s hold on me was strong.”

That night, it made sense for the first time. God didn’t wait until Ezekiel was calm or joyful to lift him, He moved him while he was still bitter, still struggling.

John realized that God wasn’t waiting for him to fix his heart. He was waiting for him to surrender it.

In the weeks that followed, small changes began to take shape. He started showing up at church again, not because he wanted to feel better, but because he needed to be reminded of who God was. He began volunteering, helping men who had lost jobs or businesses, listening more than speaking.

Each time he shared a piece of his story, the heaviness lifted a little more. The bitterness that once anchored him started to turn into something softer, a gratitude he didn’t know he still had.

One evening, after leading a men’s group discussion, he sat in the parking lot and thought about how far he’d come. He whispered, “You really did lift me up, didn’t You?”

The answer came in the quiet peace that followed.

John learned that the Spirit doesn’t always lift us out of struggle. Sometimes He lifts us through it, changing us in the process, making sure we never forget who’s really in control.

How do you usually respond when God interrupts your plans?