Several years ago, a high school girl in Southeast Asia made plans to find a summer job. Elizabeth was in between her sophomore and junior year. She wanted to save money to attend Bible college after high school.

A woman in Elizabeth's hometown told her about a job opportunity in a neighboring community. Elizabeth never suspected this woman was about to betray her, but she did—by selling her to a human trafficker. At 15 years old, Elizabeth found herself in a foreign country subjected to horrible abuse. As a Christian, she did the only thing she knew to do: She prayed every night to be rescued. The other girls in the brothel mocked her. They said God couldn't hear her.

It was Elizabeth's faith in the invisible that gave her courage to keep praying and hoping in the face of these impossible circumstances. Like Elizabeth, a man named Job also had faith in what he couldn't see—even in the face of much suffering. In the Bible, Job was a good man who suffered greatly. In fact, his story of pain gives us three incredible insights into faith during trials.

In the book of Job, he and his friends attempt to find human answers for Job's incredible suffering. God makes it clear that they don't have all of the information, and shouldn't try to make those kinds of judgments. God says, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me if you understand." In other words, God's saying that our reality is bigger than what we can see; only a sovereign God can see the complete picture. Only he knows why things happen.

Secondly, while Job curses the day he was born, he doesn't curse God or blame him for what has happened. God is not the source of our pain, but he invites us to cast our cares on him, and to share our suffering and doubts with him as the writers of the psalms often do.

Finally, we see that evil is real. I don't understand why pain and suffering happens, but the book of Job exposes Satan's goal: To break and destroy us. It also reveals that God's goal is to restore us.

A short time after Elizabeth's capture, an International Justice Mission (IJM) operative found her. And with the help of the authorities, IJM freed her. When they went into her small room to collect her belongings, they found Psalm 27 written on the wall: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" (NIV). Elizabeth did go on to Bible college, and is now working in ministry as a translator.

Elizabeth couldn't see God's reasons or protection or presence while stuck in that horrible captivity. But still, she trusted in the unseen. And now, she shares her story to educate people about human trafficking. When asked recently if she could read Psalm 27 when giving her testimony, Elizabeth declined. Instead, she read a portion of Psalm 34: "I sought the Lord, and he heard my cry" (NIV).

International Justice Mission is an organization of lawyers and law enforcement officials who, inspired by God's heart for justice, work to rescue people who are oppressed around the world. To read more about their work, visit ijm.org.

Sara Groves is a singer/songwriter from Minneapolis, MN. Her latest album Tell Me What You Know was written for and inspired by Elizabeth and the staff of IJM.

Read more from 'Bands & Artists'

				Try an Issue of Ignite Your Faith Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Ignite Your Faith coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive eight more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Ignite Your Faith as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Ignite Your Faith Connection Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help