When God Doesn't Heal (Part 1): Holding On to Faith in Life's Storms with Chad & Sadie Roberts

When God Doesn't Heal (Part 1): Holding On to Faith in Life's Storms with Chad & Sadie Roberts

How do people find hope in the darkest times? Crossroads with Jenny Bushkell brings that question right into the centre of the conversation as Pastor Chad and Sadie Roberts share how life changed when Chad lost his sight by the age of 38. Listeners are taken back to the moment on a mountain in Central America when blood vessels burst behind Chad’s eye and, within two failed surgeries and a torn retina, his world shifted into permanent darkness.

Fifteen months later, his remaining sight was gone. The couple talk honestly about panic, depression, and terrifying questions like, “How is God good even when life isn’t?” Sadie opens up about moving from a “surface level” faith to one forged through crisis, saying she “had to wrestle with what is good and what does God’s goodness look like” in the middle of blindness, small children, and church responsibilities.

Chad keeps things real and quite funny at times, describing how he broke the tension at church by pretending to preach with his back to the congregation, and then turning around to say, “People, I’m just kidding.” Underneath the humour is a very deliberate stance: “Joy is a choice,” he insists, explaining how he starts his days declaring, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” The episode also touches on suffering well, choosing whether hardship will “grind you down or polish you up”, and anchoring everything in Scripture rather than personal opinion.

Yet she’s able to say she “wouldn’t trade it for the world” because of the closeness to God that’s come through it. If you’re facing loss, illness, addiction, or just feel stuck in a long storm, this honest talk about faith, questions, and choosing joy might be exactly the encouragement you need today. What kind of person do you want to be on the other side of your own storm?