Singing Through Fire

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 developin...

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...

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 unexpec...

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...

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...

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 laun...

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 extrem...

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 spirit...

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...

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, culminat...

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 a...

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...

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’...

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 rediscove...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman, wrestles with why God sometimes does not heal chronic pain and how Christians should respond when God calls them to stay in the storm rather than keep chasing the shore. Sharing her own experience of being led to accept a permanent neurological illness, she encourages listeners to grieve, keep praying for confirmation, and pursue surren...

In this episode, host Lara Silverman continues her “Faith in the Furnace” series with guest Mary Balian, an Armenian American singer-songwriter dedicated to creating contemporary Armenian Christian worship music so Armenians can worship Christ in their own language. Mary shares her testimony of suffering and faith, including losing her father to a sudden heart attack at age 15 while performing CPR...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman wrestles with a painful question many sufferers ask: if God is sovereign, why doesn’t He heal everyone? Drawing from her own eight-year battle with a rare neurological disease and the loss of her husband Matt to stage four cancer, she examines key biblical passages about healing, challenges prosperity gospel assumptions, and explains why unan...

In this episode, Lara Silverman continues her “Faith in the Furnace” series with Rick Cram, a resilience coach and author who has lived with severe left-knee pain since a high school football injury 50 years ago. Rick recounts a long medical journey—multiple failed repairs, a total knee replacement at 40, and a 2019 partial revision that solved some issues but created new problems—leaving him with...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara explores God’s end goal for believers—not an easy, comfortable life, but sanctification: being conformed to the image of Christ. Walking through key passages like Romans 8:29, Luke 9:23, and Philippians 1:6, she explains that becoming Christ-like requires daily self-denial, crucifying the flesh, and surrendering personal rights and agendas to God’s wil...

Host Lara Silverman continues the “Faith in the Furnace” series with David Heflin, founder and executive director of the chronic illness and pain support ministry Broken and Mended, former pastor of 20 years, and author of the upcoming book Purpose in Pain. David shares how hip injuries revealed ankylosing spondylitis, later compounded by Crohn’s, and how worsening symptoms affected ministry, fami...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara wrestles with why the phrase “God knows what’s best” can feel cruel in seasons of deep suffering, especially after loss, illness, loneliness, or unanswered prayer. She examines whether Scripture supports the idea, citing passages that describe God’s ways as perfect, just, loving, and wise, and argues that God’s goodness is proven through Christ’s suffe...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman continues the “Faith in the Furnace” series with Kelly Hall—host of the Unshakeable Hope Podcast, author, Bible teacher, and speaker. Kelly shares her family’s long road through military life, raising four children (three profoundly deaf), years of separations from her Air Force fighter-pilot husband to pursue cochlear implants and speci...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman tackles one of the most painful truths in the Christian life: sometimes God’s answer to our prayers is a clear “no,” even when the desire is good and godly. She explains why Christianity is not a prosperity gospel—and why many believers still slip into “prosperity gospel light,” assuming that waiting long enough guarantees earthly deliverance...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman begins the “Faith in the Furnace” series with Sara Gaver—speaker, advocate, founder of Wheel Life Connections, and Miss Wheelchair USA 2022. Sara shares what it’s like living with Arthrogryposis as a full-time power wheelchair user, including chronic pain, childhood surgeries, and the challenges of relying on caregivers. She tells how sh...

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, join host Lara Silverman as she tackles profound questions about suffering and faith. Drawing from her personal experience with chronic illness and the loss of her husband, Lara discusses the importance of building a biblical theology of suffering. This foundational episode explores scripture's perspectives on pain and introduces the "Christian Su...