Singing Through Fire

What do you do when you’ve already walked through years of suffering—and then the suffering comes back in a new and unexpected form?

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman sits down with Sara Willoughby to talk honestly about chronic illness, unanswered prayer, lament, and what it means to keep trusting God when you cannot understand what He is doing.

After years of debilitating illness an...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman explores the Bible’s picture of the Christian life as an intense race that requires training, endurance, and perseverance through suffering. She explains how trials strengthen “faith muscles,” calls listeners not to quit when bitterness or doubt hits and, encourages offering God a sacrifice of praise even in pain. Lara describes the ultimate prize as Christ H...

What happens when life changes overnight—and the healing you've been praying for doesn't come as quickly as you'd hoped?

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman sits down with Lauren Watt, whose life was turned upside down by a sudden illness at age 14 that left her mostly bedridden for eight years. But this isn't simply a story about chronic illness. It's a conversation about discovering God's faithfulness in ...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman unpacks how God can redeem personal suffering by advancing the gospel through it—turning “tests into testimonies.” She explains Paul’s “suffering to salvation” principle from Philippians, showing how courage in affliction can become a witness to unbelievers and embolden other believers to speak without fear. Lara connects this to the early c...

What does it look like to trust God when suffering never seems to end?

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman sits down with chronic illness blogger Katelyn Friesen to discuss a lifetime marked by profound hardship—and the unwavering faith that has sustained her through it all. From years of unanswered questions, abuse, and chronic illness to countless hospitalizations, Katelyn shares how God met her i...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman asks a question many hurting Christians have wrestled with: Is God really near when our hearts are breaking? Drawing from Psalm 34:18, she explores what the Bible says about God's presence in suffering and shares how He has faithfully comforted her through some of life's darkest seasons. From losing her dream career after developing a rare neurological illness to spending thre...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman continues the Faith in the Furnace series with Emily Curtis, president of Hope in the Morning, compiler of Hope in the Morning: A Hope-Filled Guide Through Grief, and host of the Hope in the Morning radio and podcast.

Emily shares the story of her lifelong journey through suffering—from her parents' divorce as a young child and the gift of a loving stepfather...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman shares the extraordinary ways she believes God has met her during eight years of profound suffering. After becoming bedridden with a rare neurological disease that left her dependent on full-time care, Lara recounts a series of deeply personal experiences—including vivid dreams, providential Scripture passages, remarkable timing, and unexpected encouragements—that ...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman continues the Faith in the Furnace series with author, speaker, and podcaster Shawna Marie Bryant, who shares how her second child, Sam, was born with trisomy 13 and lived less than three weeks, shattering her expectation that God would always “fix things.” Shawna describes God’s sustaining presence through specific moments: a comforting “weighted ...

In this episode, Lara Silverman explores how Christians can respond to profound suffering in a way that is both honest and biblical. She argues that Scripture makes room for deep grief through the practice of lament—a process she describes as bringing both questions and cries before God. Drawing from the experiences of Jacob, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Moses, Paul, Job, and the psalmist in Psalm 88, she demonstrates that God welcome...

In this Faith in the Furnace episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman interviews Christian comedian and social media creator Andrew Villalpando about a decade marked by grief, betrayal, and rebuilding faith. Andrew recounts receiving a call at 20 years old that his father had an hour left to live before suddenly dying of a heart attack on his little sister’s birthday — a loss that launched years of disorient...

In this episode of the Faith in the Furnace series, host Lara Silverman sits down with journalist, author, and musician Carrie Sheffield to discuss surviving childhood trauma, religious abuse, mental illness in her family, and finding healing through Christ.

Carrie shares what it was like growing up as the fifth of eight children in a violent, unstable motorhome lifestyle under her father’s extremist “prophet” clai...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman continues the Faith in the Furnace series with Mischelle Saunders-Gutch, founder and CEO of Altered Stories Ministry, host of The Altered Story Show, and author of the 30-day healing memoir devotional The Story Within You. Michelle shares her testimony as a childhood survivor of a Christian-claiming cult from ages 7–12, describing spiritual, emotional, and sexual ab...

In this episode, host Lara Silverman continues her “Faith in the Furnace” series with Christian life and mental health coach, author, and Unveiling Hope founder, Lori Schumaker, who shares a testimony shaped by abortion and years of shame, abusive marriage, and chronic illness (including cystinuria with severe kidney stones, Hashimoto’s, migraines, fibromyalgia, extensive food allergies, and black mold toxicity.) ...

In this episode, host Lara Silverman begins the Theology in the Fire series with Mark Jones, a former dentist and longtime prayer pastor and elder at Mana House in Portland, Oregon. He teaches on prayer, intimacy with God, surrender, and spiritual warfare. Mark shares how years of offense and bitterness toward two church leaders became his entry point into understanding spiritual warfare, culminating in a confession and reconciliat...

In this episode, host Lara Silverman continues the “Faith in the Furnace” series on Singing Through Fire with entrepreneur, podcast host, and former bivocational pastor Matthew Efird who shares his family’s testimony of suffering and faith. Matthew recounts learning during his wife’s pregnancy that their son Noah had Trisomy 13, the months of anticipatory grief, and Noah’s birth on March 7, 2020 and de...

In this episode, Lara Silverman welcomes Jim Burgoon—strategist for Faith-Driven Leaders, host of the Unshakeable Life Podcast, military veteran, and former pastor—to share his “faith in the furnace” story, centered on his wife’s decades-long battle with four major mental illnesses, recurring hospitalizations, and a near-suicide attempt while raising children and leading in ministry. Jim describes the ...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman speaks to listeners who feel overwhelmed, afraid, and unsure they can keep going, and prays for God’s comfort. She challenges the idea that “God will never give you more than you can handle,” showing from Scripture that God sometimes allows burdens beyond our strength so we will rely on Him, citing Paul, Elijah, Job, Jeremiah, and even Jesus’ anguish be...

In this episode, host Lara Silverman continues the “Faith in the Furnace” series with Melissa McLaughlin, a writer, teacher, and speaker who retired early after debilitating chronic back pain from deteriorating discs forced her out of a beloved teaching career, exposing how much her identity was tied to work and capability. Melissa shares how suffering and dependence on others led her to rediscover her true identity as ...