The Tears Turned to Words of Wisdom

There was a time when I was getting about three hours of sleep in a day. I was tired. Sometimes I cried and asked, “When?” I kept hearing the words, “It will not be long” and “This too shall pass.”

I held on to those words through days that felt hard and exhausting. And now, when I look back, I can say: the tears turned to words of wisdom.

That does not mean the difficult moments were easy, or that I always felt strong. It means that the tears were part of my story, but they were not the whole story. My faith helped me keep going, one day at a time.

When you are tired and still have to keep going

As a single parent, there were times when life asked a lot of me. I was caring for my children while trying to keep moving towards the future I believed was possible. There were moments when I felt worn out and wondered how much longer I would have to keep pushing.

I did not have a perfect answer to “When?” Sometimes, all I could do was keep going and hold on to the encouragement I felt in my spirit: “It will not be long. This too shall pass.”

I want to be honest about that season. Getting so little sleep was hard; it is not something I would tell another woman to aim for or try to prove herself through. There is no shame in needing rest or asking for practical help. Faith is not pretending that you are never tired. It is bringing your tiredness to God and taking the next step as you are able.

For me, that next step was often simply not giving up on the hope I carried.

Faith does not mean you never cry

Sometimes people speak about faith as if a faithful person should never feel overwhelmed. But I cried. I asked questions. I was tired. Those feelings did not mean that I had stopped believing.

The Bible gives room for sorrow and hope together. Psalm 30:5 says, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5, KJV). I take comfort in that promise, not as a guarantee that every hard circumstance will change on the timetable I want, but as a reminder that sorrow is not the only part of the story.

And when Paul writes, “though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16, KJV), I hear an invitation to look to God for strength again today. Not strength for every day at once. Strength for this day.

There are moments when you may not feel full of faith. You may only have enough courage to whisper a prayer, ask for help, or take one small step. That still matters.

The words I held on to

“It will not be long.”
“This too shall pass.”

Those words did not erase the pressure I was under. They helped me hold on through it. When I asked “When?”, I did not always know what the answer would be. But I kept trusting that the season I was walking through would not define my whole life.

My faith was not about acting as though everything was fine. It was about turning towards God even when I did not feel fine. I pulled through with faith, and the Word of God was a light on my path. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105, KJV).

A lamp does not show you every mile ahead. It gives light for the next step. That image speaks to me because sometimes the next step is all you can see, and all you need to take.

What the tears taught me

Looking back, I can see that my difficult seasons became part of what I can now share with other women and parents. The tears turned to words of wisdom, not because hardship is something to celebrate, but because I came through moments that once felt overwhelming and learned to encourage others from what I had lived.

Here is the heart of how I see it now: I never saw my struggle. I saw the experience in the struggle, and the story. Hard times came, but they were also teaching me something, and every season was writing a story worth telling.

My journey has included speaking up for my child, putting my education on hold for a year and a half to teach my children at home, and studying at night while they slept. I have completed my degree, I am completing my master’s, and I will complete my doctorate. I share these things not to suggest that everyone must follow the same path, or that we need to exhaust ourselves to prove our worth. I share them because they are part of my story of ambition, faith, determination and resilience.

There is wisdom in knowing what you have made it through. There is also wisdom in being gentle with yourself, recognising when you need support, and remembering that rest is not failure. Encouragement should not become another burden placed on a woman who is already carrying too much.

If you are in a difficult season now, please do not hear my story as a command to struggle alone. Reach out to someone you trust. Ask for help where you can. Take care of your wellbeing. And if prayer is part of your life, you can bring God the honest question: “When?” You do not need to hide your tears from Him.

For the woman asking, “When?”

Maybe you are a parent trying to keep going. Maybe you are building a business, caring for others, studying, or trying to find your feet after a painful season. You may be tired of being told to stay strong.

So let me offer you the words I held on to: it will not be long; this too shall pass. I cannot tell you exactly when a situation will change. But I can remind you that this moment is not the whole of your life, and you do not have to face it without support.

Take one step at a time. Hold on to the faith that gives you hope. Let yourself be human. And when the tears come, do not be ashamed of them.

One day, you may look back and see that your tears have become words that comfort someone else. You may find that the wisdom you share was shaped in a season you never wanted, but survived.

For me, that is what these words mean: the tears turned to words of wisdom.