I Can Only Imagine 2, in theatres now, is the sequel to the 2018 faith-based film by the same name.

The original movie shared the true story of Bart Millard (John Michael Finley), the frontman for the Christian band MercyMe, and how his relationship with his father (Dennis Quaid) led him to write one of the band’s most popular songs, I Can Only Imagine. The sequel offers a look into the next chapter of his story, which picks up about 15 years later.

Trusting God Through Struggle

Bart is still leading MercyMe, and the band has had tremendous success. He’s married to Shannon (Sophie Skelton), and they have five children.

From the outside, things look great, but Bart is struggling personally.

His teenaged son, Sam (Sammy Dell), was diagnosed with diabetes when he was just two years old, and it seems like life revolves around Sam’s illness. Frequent hospitalizations, constant worry and financial concerns plague Bart. Shannon suggests he take Sam with him on the band’s latest tour. 

“I’m worried I might break him,” he says.

“Or he just might fix you,” Shannon replies. Bart reluctantly agrees.

Also on the tour is Tim Timmons (Milo Ventimiglia), a singer-songwriter who will serve as MercyMe’s warm-up act, and the two become friends.

“I just want to write something that helps people through the pain that we all go through,” Tim says.

Bart thinks that Tim could never understand what he is going through, but Tim is carrying a heavy load himself, and he teaches Bart how to feel gratitude, even in the midst of suffering.

Together, Tim and Bart co-write another of MercyMe’s greatest hits, a song called Even If. The song is based on Bart’s experience while parenting a child with a chronic illness. It’s a song about trusting God and remembering He is our hope, no matter what difficulties life brings.

“Gratitude and grief. And finding a way to hold them both,” Tim tells Bart. “God is in the fire with us and it’s beautiful.”

Can Bart learn to trust God with his son’s well-being and even find a way to feel grateful, despite his struggle?

No More Pain?

Bart Millard’s story is relatable.

So many of us think that deciding to follow Jesus means our lives will automatically get easier as a result. Scott Brickell (Trace Adkins), MercyMe’s longtime manager, even calls out Bart for his unrealistic, but all-too-common, expectations.

“You got your dream,” he says. “You inspired millions of people. What did you think was going to happen? That you were just going to ride off into the sunset? No more struggles or pain?”

Being a Christian doesn’t mean living an easy, pain-free life. We might still have health problems, difficult—even failed—relationships, or financial issues and family problems. Despite our faith in God, we may still face all the same struggles that other people do.

But the difference is that Christians never face their problems alone. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

As Christians, we believe that God is capable of anything, that no problem is beyond His power. And that’s why it’s hard for us to understand why He doesn’t just take away our struggles.

God can heal cancer. He can mend broken relationships. He can fix financial problems. And sometimes, He does. But other times, instead of taking away our struggles, He chooses to walk through them with us.

God wants us to remember that our hope is in Him. Not because He rescues us from today’s problems, but because He sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue us from our sin—an eternal problem we couldn’t fix for ourselves—and all we have to do is accept His sacrifice on our behalf.

Even if this life is hard, as Christians, we can trust that God has already healed us, and our eternal future is secured with Him. And that’s something we can always be thankful for.

Photo: Courtesy of 2025 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc.