Because of Jesus Christ Everything Is Going to Be Okay (With Sarah Norton)

Three times in Sarah Norton's life, a total stranger walked up to her at the worst possible moment and said the same thing. Not something similar. The same sentence, word for word: "Everything is going to be okay." Once outside a doctor's office while her sister was inside after a suicide attempt. Once, in a Deseret Book store while picking out burial clothes for that same sister after she died. Once, in the celestial room of the temple after 45 minutes of praying with no answer.

Sarah did not orchestrate any of it. She did not know any of these people. And the message never changed. In this recent episode of Why We Believe with host Nathan Gwilliam, Sarah shares how God kept showing up through ordinary people at impossible moments, and what it took for her to trust that He always would.

A Dream at 16 That Made Her Stand Up in Church

When Sarah was 16, she had a dream unlike anything she had experienced before. Jesus knocked on her family's front door while they were gathered for family home evening. He came in and visited. Then the whole ward gathered on the baseball fields next to the church on a perfect blue Oregon spring morning, setting up tables and picnic blankets, waiting for Him to return. She woke up and bore her testimony about it the very next Sunday.

A young man in her ward who had been pulling away from the gospel came up to her afterward. He looked her in the eye and asked, "Do you really think He's real? Like really, really real?" She said yes. He said he had some things to think about. That was the first time Sarah understood that sharing her own experience with Christ could change the direction of someone else's life.

The First Stranger

Years later, Sarah was sitting outside her then-husband's medical office. Her younger sister Liza was inside being examined after a suicide attempt. Sarah did not know how to hold what she was feeling. A woman she had never seen before walked up from the parking lot and asked if she was okay. Sarah told her she was worried about her sister. The woman asked if she could give her a hug. Then she said, "I just want you to know that everything is going to be okay." Sarah knew it was God. She felt it. Four years later, Liza died by suicide.

Four Losses and a Family That Would Not Let Go

Sarah has now lost four members of her family to suicide. Her sister, Liza. Her brother, Bill. Her niece, Lucy. And her niece, Kirsten, two weeks before this episode was recorded. She did not hide from any of it. "If three was unfathomable," she said, "four is just unbelievable." And yet at Kirsten's memorial, Sarah sat across from Kirsten's friends and roommates, held their hands, looked them in the eyes, and told them the truth: you are going to be okay. You can get through this. I have gotten through this. She had become the stranger. She had become the messenger.

The Second and Third Angels

After Liza died, Sarah and her sister Mary Jane went to Deseret Book to pick out burial clothes. Neither of them had a working debit card. A kind employee helped them, waited for them to return with a card, and when they came back, wrapped them both in a hug and told them Liza was with God. That everything was going to be okay.

The third came in the temple celestial room. Sarah had been praying alone for 45 minutes, asking God for direction about her marriage. Nothing came. She stood to leave. A young man in the corner motioned her over and whispered, "I feel like I'm supposed to tell you that everything's going to be okay." From that day forward, she knew. Either her husband would come to Jesus or she would get free. She got free.

What God Used to Get Her There

After her divorce, Sarah started experiencing severe anxiety every evening. Through prayer and research, she recognized it as a trauma response. Years of abuse had been stored in her body, and now that she was safe, those younger parts of herself were finally asking to be heard.

She completed more than 34 hours of trauma integration work, became licensed to help others do the same, and began hosting healing retreats through her ministry Your Beautiful Soul. Women come in not knowing if God sees them and leave knowing He does. "It doesn't really matter what you call God," she says. "The truth is meant for you. Love is meant for you."

Everything Is Going to Be Okay

At the end of the episode, Sarah looked straight into the camera and said what she needed someone to say to her at every one of her lowest moments.

"You have no idea how amazing you are. You are God's child. And that's real. And everything is going to be okay because your dad is a God. And your big brother is Jesus Christ who died for you. He rose again, and He lives to love you. You're worth it. You're worth it all."

If you are in a hard season right now, that message is for you. Not from Sarah. From the God who keeps sending people to say it. You can find Sarah at yourbeautifulsoul.net and on Instagram at @sarahjeannorton.

Key Takeaways

God sends confirmation through ordinary people at the exact moment we need it, and those moments can carry us through years of difficulty. Losing someone to suicide does not have to end your faith. For Sarah, it deepened it in ways that changed the entire direction of her life.

Unprocessed trauma does not disappear. It waits until you are safe enough to feel it, and then it asks to be heard. Your divine worth is not theoretical. It is the foundation that makes healing, courage, and genuine service to others possible. The strangers God sends to you may one day be the person you become for someone else.

Thank you for reading this week's blog post inspired by the Why We Believe show. If you are interested in more stories like this, you can check out our other blog posts and episodes at WhyWeBelieve.com. Visit WhyWeBelieve.com and sign up for your free guide, 13 Strategies to Increase Faith in Jesus Christ. Subscribe to Why We Believe on your favorite platform.

Follow the Why We Believe Show - Website: WhyWeBelieve.com | YouTube: @WhyWeBelieveShow | LinkedIn: @Why-We-Believe-Show | Instagram: @WhyWeBelievePodcast

Follow Nathan Gwilliam - LinkedIn: @NathanGwilliam

Follow Sarah Norton - Website: YourBeautifulSoul.net | Instagram: @SarahJeanNorton