From Frustration to Breakthrough: How God Uses Your Struggle to Unlock Purpose 🚪

Life’s storms can hit hard, can’t they?

They toss you around. Make you wonder if your heart will make it through in one piece… or if all this struggle is even worth it.

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It’s easy to feel small—like your place in the grand story doesn’t quite fit.

Same.

At 20, I was drowning in depression. Life felt dark, heavy, overwhelming. But then… friends showed up. No advice. No preaching. Just presence.

One day, my sweet girl friends fasted breakfast and then met me for lunch, where they prayed over me, sat with me, and held space for my ache. That moment of feeling seen and partnered melted something open in me.

Not everything changed overnight—but I did.

After that day, despair never touched me again. I felt guided on a healing, strengthening journey. God's voice felt near, kind, caring, and empowering.

That rock-bottom moment became the floor I stood on to help others rise, too. It became the place where God started whispering dreams I hadn’t dared to believe yet. I became passionate about mental health, emotional healing, and breaking off the despair and helplessness that try to keep people stuck.

Now, joy and confidence are my daily mantras—and I literally get to pray and walk others out of depression and anxiety every day. 💛

✨ Turns out, the storm wasn’t the end. It was the wind that carried me into purpose.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”—Psalm 34:18

Your hardest seasons hold seeds of breakthrough.

Let’s look at Hannah in the Bible.

She ached for something she couldn’t make happen. For years, her longing for a child went unmet—and misunderstood. People judged her. Even the priest thought her grief was a drunken mess. But in the middle of her ache, Hannah did something powerful:

She voiced it.

She got honest before God. Raw. Unfiltered. No Sunday-best spiritual filter.

And that prayer—birthed in pain—unlocked purpose.

And God responded. He always will. 💞 Her story didn’t just change her life; it changed history through her son Samuel, a prophet who helped shape a nation.

💥 Here’s the part we often miss:

Before breakthrough comes, the Spirit stirs.

And what He stirs in you is worth voicing.

Big changes start when we dare to ask, “What do I really want?”

That question isn’t selfish—it’s sacred.

Here’s why: When we name our desires out loud, it activates the prefrontal cortex—the decision-making center of your brain. That simple act of voicing what you long for isn't just emotional. It’s strategic!

🧠 Your brain starts mapping new pathways toward action, healing, and clarity.

So often we say, “I don’t even know what I want anymore.”

But deep down? You do.

You just haven’t felt safe enough to ask.

So let me give you permission today:

📝 Grab a journal and write down your friction points—your heartaches, frustrations, the things you can’t shake. Then ask the Holy Spirit: “What’s the desire underneath this frustration?”

🎯 Pay attention to what rises. That craving for meaning, peace, beauty, or change? That’s not random. It’s revelation.

🫶🏼 Discipline your disappointments. Grieve what didn’t happen—but don’t let it bury what still could. Listen for God's voice of truth, comfort, direction, possibility.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”—Proverbs 13:12

Believe it: frustration often fuels breakthrough.

The things that irritate or ache the most might be exactly where God is inviting you to dig deeper and trust that He’s preparing something better.

That heart-cry? It’s a clue.

Just like Hannah, your prayers and longings might be the key to victories only you are meant to unlock.

What if this storm you’re in isn’t proof that you’re off-course—but proof that your deeper desire and God’s plan are colliding?

📣 So don’t hush the longing. Honor it. Pray it. Voice it. And watch what God births from it. 🌱

Sometimes what we assume are fleeting wishes are really windows into the purpose God’s planted in you. Your desires matter to God—where do you think most of them came from? 💘

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”—Psalm 37:4

And when life’s winds howl and the waves feel too big, it’s tempting to feel adrift.

But like a sailor who learns to trim the sails and harness the wind (fun fact: my husband has a ship "trim your sails" tattoo of this as a reminder 💪🏼), you too can learn to use those powerful gusts to propel you toward your God-given destiny.

It’s about learning to adjust, to listen, to let the Spirit guide the journey.

If you’ve ever doubted whether your struggle has meaning...

Let Hannah remind you: The tears, the waiting, the ache that won’t go away—they’re not detours. They’re chapters in your epic story.

Every hero faces hardship. (Let’s be honest—so do the villains. The difference? What you let it make of you.)

So keep your heart tender. Let God use the hard parts to lead you into the life-giving, good, and deeply personal plans He’s written just for you.

Because yes—He’s working all things (and I do mean all) for your good. Even the storm.

Trust the God who sees you, who meets you right in the mess and still has a future and a hope in mind (Jeremiah 29:11). Trust the One who can turn barren seasons into breakthrough—and turn whispers of desire into world-shaking impact.

The dreams He planted in you are powerful.

And they’re ripening. ✨

You’re closer than you think. And God’s already promised to do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

So go ahead—ask. Uncover your desires. Name them. Pray them. Hand them to Jesus and let Him do what only He can.

The storm isn’t the end. It's the wind beneath your call. Let it carry you! 💨

In tender hope,

Kelsi