God Still Works Through the Uneven Pieces
- Salvatore Santaniello
- May 22, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 2
Your Story Still Matters
Faith does not grow only in quiet chapels; clean homes; or those nice seasons of life when everyone is healthy; the bills are paid; and your prayers seem to be getting same-day delivery.
Most of the time; faith grows in the parts we would rather skip.
Loss. Disappointment. Mistakes. Unanswered prayers. The long; slow work of getting up and starting again when you are not even sure you feel like starting again.
That is why our stories matter.
In October 1993 General Conference; Sister Chieko N. Okazaki gave a talk called “Strength in the Savior.” She held up two quilts. One had a clean; predictable pattern. The other was a crazy quilt: pieces of different sizes; strange shapes; odd angles; no neat little pattern telling you where everything belonged.
That second quilt feels a whole lot more like real life.
Some people seem to get the matching-pattern version. Everything lines up well enough from a distance. Then there are the rest of us; stitched together from grief; mistakes; second chances; weird turns; prayers we are still waiting on; and a few pieces we still do not understand how God plans to use.
Sister Okazaki said there is not only one right way for a quilt to be beautiful; as long as the pieces are stitched together firmly.
I believe that about people too.
People Do Not Need Another Perfect Faith Story
I do not think most people are desperate to hear one more story about someone whose life went perfectly because they prayed hard enough and remembered to read their scriptures every day.
Good for them. Truly.
But somebody else is sitting there thinking; “Well; mine did not go like that.”
Somebody prayed; and still lost someone.
Somebody tried; and still failed.
Somebody believed; and still ended up heartbroken.
Somebody has made enough mistakes that they are quietly wondering whether God still wants anything to do with them.
Those people do not need a polished little faith story with every corner tucked in nice and pretty.
They need somebody willing to say; “My life has some crooked pieces too. And somehow; Jesus Christ has not let it fall apart.”
That is a testimony people can breathe around.
Faith Is Not Just What We Say
It is easy to talk about faith when everything is working.
Faith gets a little less decorative when grief becomes part of the family; when a relationship breaks; when you are trying to forgive someone; when you are trying to forgive yourself; or when the answer to prayer seems to be taking the scenic route.
Those are not always the moments faith disappears.
Sometimes that is when faith finally becomes more than something we say at church.
Sister Okazaki knew something about that. She spoke about her husband dying; about the shock and sorrow her family carried; and about how they had to take turns being strong for one another. When one could not carry everything; somebody else stepped forward.
That is real life. That is real faith.
Sometimes we are the strong one. Sometimes we are absolutely not. Sometimes our great spiritual accomplishment for the day is answering the phone; getting out of bed; or whispering one very unimpressive prayer that mostly sounds like; “Lord; please help me.”
He hears that one too.
Why Sharing Matters
When we tell the truth about our lives; we give people something better than advice.
We give them company.
Someone carrying grief may hear your story and realize they are not broken because they still hurt.
Someone ashamed of their past may begin to believe repentance is not a locked door.
Someone exhausted from pretending may finally decide to pray again.
That is why MyLDSTalks matters to me.
Not because I think I have all the answers. I do not.
It matters because real faith is usually found in real lives; and real lives rarely look like a perfect quilt hanging safely on a wall where nobody touches it.
They look used.
They look uneven.
They have pieces that came from things we never would have chosen.
And still; in the hands of the Savior; they can become something warm enough to help somebody else survive a cold season.
God Uses Ordinary Pieces Too
Not every spiritual lesson comes from the biggest tragedy of your life. Sometimes God is in the small pieces too.
A morning prayer you almost skipped.
A child who still needs you; even when you feel empty.
A friend who checks in at the exact right time.
The strength to do the next right thing; even when you are tired of being brave.
A laugh that sneaks back into a life you thought might only feel heavy from now on.
Those pieces matter too.
Sister Okazaki taught that strength comes from the Savior; and that the strength He gives us can flow into other people when they need it.
That may be the whole point of sharing our stories.
Not to make ourselves look strong.
To show someone else where the strength came from.
Your Story May Be for Someone Else
There are parts of our lives we would rather fold underneath and never show anyone.
The mistake. The divorce. The doubt. The loss. The season we barely held on.
But sometimes the piece we thought made our life look ruined becomes the very piece God uses to help someone else believe theirs is not ruined either.
Not because pain is good.
Not because loss is easy.
Because grace is real.
Your story does not have to be neat to matter. It does not have to be impressive. It does not have to match anybody else’s.
It only has to be honest; and stitched firmly to Jesus Christ.
Someone may need the part you thought was only broken.
I leave you with these thoughts in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
General Conference Reference: Sister Chieko N. Okazaki; “Strength in the Savior”; October 1993 General Conference.
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