By Cheryl Mah
Life can turn upside down in a single moment, and the weight of that change can leave us breathless.
I never expected the day when my mother’s health would suddenly decline. She had always been vibrant – joyful, sociable, and faithful in serving both God and her community. In one moment, that version of her seemed to fade, and I found myself overwhelmed by a weight I had never imagined carrying.
The suddenness of it all shook me deeply. I was anxious, sad, and honestly unprepared for the responsibility and grief I felt. Yet in my lowest moments, I turned again and again to prayer. Slowly, my anxieties and worries were met with peace that could only have come from God.
Through this journey, I’ve learnt that even in such a difficult season, God is still present and teaching me to trust Him more. Here are four truths that anchor me:
1. Difficult seasons reveal our weaknesses, but magnify God’s strength.
When life changes without warning, we quickly discover how fragile our plans and strength truly are. However, God uses these moments to draw us near, reminding us that His power is made perfect in our weakness. What feels like breaking is often His way of building deeper trust.
2. Prayer shifts our focus from burden to presence.
At first, prayer was simply my cry for help. As I persisted, it became a place of encounter. The heaviness didn’t always lift immediately, but my heart did. Prayer redirected my eyes from the weight of responsibility to the presence of the One who carries me.
3. Sorrow and faith can exist together.
I struggled to accept how different my mother had become, compared to the joyful servant of God she once was. It broke my heart, yet God reminded me that I could grieve and still hold onto faith. My sorrow did not weaken me – in fact, it carved out the space where deeper trust in God could flourish.
4. Peace comes not from change, but surrender.
I still long for things to be different, but I’ve come to see that peace does not always rest on circumstances improving. True peace is found in releasing the burden into God’s hands. My heart grew lighter – not because life circumstances have changed, but because He became my refuge within it.
This journey has not been easy, and it is barely the beginning. I no longer see it only as a season of loss; rather, it has become a season of reshaping. God has taught me that when familiar joy fades, His love still surrounds, sustains, and surprises us with strength we didn’t know we had.
So if – like me – you are in your own unexpected valley, know this: prayer does not always change the circumstances, but it will change you. Keep trusting and keep praying, even when the weight feels unbearable. What overwhelms us is never too heavy for God. He is strong enough to carry it all, and gentle enough to carry us with it.