Can you be in the will of God and still suffer?

December 20, 2025

Maria 1 Corinthians 4, Answers to Prayer, Decision-making, God's will, Prayer, Psalm 23, suffering , , , , , Leave a comment

Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home.
1 Corinthians 4:11 (NLT)

When we decided to move from southeastern Virginia to the mountains of western North Carolina, we prayed all year long. I had read a book by Kevin DeYoung entitled Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will. His approach helped shape our prayers.

We would speak each night out loud to our Shepherd in prayer, sometimes even physically raising up open hands to symbolize that we trusted Him to open or shut doors. For us, that posture meant that we were willing for Him to redirect us. 

God responded by selling our house in Virginia, locating a mountain cabin on ten acres, and providing me with a French teaching job in Asheville. All in five months and coinciding with Mike’s retirement from federal service. 

With such a green light, we packed up in June 2013, loaded our two cats, and convoyed down to our new life in the mountains. Our plan – Mike would work from home as a subcontractor while I commuted to my school to teach French. 

Naively, we assumed that being in God’s will would preclude major hardships.

Recently I was reminded of that “adventure” and our assumptions while reading the novel Return to Me by Lynn Austin.

Austin takes biblical facts from the first six chapters of Ezra and provides backstory, bringing to life the struggle of the first group of returnees from Babylon. They journey back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. I’ve almost finished the book, which spans almost 23 years. I’m seeing how our God takes the long view. He is in no hurry to have His good plans and purposes accomplished.

Clearly, these families journeyed under the will of God, since Cyrus, king of Persia, issued a proclamation fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah. The Persian ruler even goes so far as to supply the returnees with the gold and silver utensils and cups stolen from the Jewish temple.

But almost as soon as the returnees begin their work, they meet with resistance and violence. Life becomes stressful and terribly hard. Eventually, they are forced to stop their labor.

The reality is that, just like Paul and the early Christians, living according to His plans does not preclude suffering.

Our own personal ordeals since then have changed my perspective. Life is challenging in a world broken by sin and influenced by Satan. But God’s response is His promised presence:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 (ESV)

So, what happened to us in North Carolina? We left after almost six years to move to Huntsville, Alabama. The different adversities and hardships were worth it, though. I came to know Jesus at a deeper level. Our trust in Him grew. And we are both very content living here.

I pray each day that I trust my Savior, who daily leads me in paths of ease?
No—in paths of righteousness for His purposes.

Copying Paul’s way of praying

March 21, 2024

Maria Desire, Ephesians 1, God's will, Prayer, Psalm 37 , , , , , 1 Comment

I love to read books on prayer, ranging from how to create the desire to pray to how to pray according to God’s will.  Paul Miller’s latest book, A Praying Church, challenges me to grow up and reorient the ways I’ve been praying.

This morning, one of my favorite verses popped up:

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 NKJV

That word ‘also’ caught my attention. Some translations don’t have it, but no matter, God used it to prompt me to look for the context of verse 4. And it makes sense when reading what precedes and follows. Verses 3 and 5 are part of one exhortation. Think of ‘the delighting/desiring’ verse as the meat and the other two sets of teachings as the bread. 

Looking at the verbs, the top layer directs us to: TRUST in the Lord (believe what he says)….DO good….DWELL where God has us (stay put, in other words).  The bottom piece urges us to: ENTRUST our way to God (or hand over our life). That’s it. The verse terminates not with one more action for us to do, but an assertion that the Lord will take care of whatever we yield or surrender to him.

More than assert, this promise infuses confidence in us.  Just think, the very God of creation will act on all we purposefully place in his hands. From my perspective, these are all the things I can’t make happen. The people I want to fix, the circumstances I long to change, the suffering of friends and family and the world.  

Now that we see the structure, here’s the meat, the part all of us like to cite and hope is true (for it sounds almost TOO good to be real). 

Delight yourself in the Lord (the Hebrew says in essence,spend time being with God and enjoy his company more than anyone else’s) and he will give you the desires of your heart (again the Hebrew reads, he will answer your prayers).

The day before I pondered these three verses, I had read the first line of Charles de Foucault’s most famous prayer.  It stopped me cold in its simplicity and boldness.

Do with me what you will.

Six simple words. Total surrender. What kind of man or woman do you think would have the courage to say that to Jesus? Only someone who has spent so much time with our Savior that the Lord has become his favorite person.

I want God to grow an attitude in me like that of Charles de Foucault. Paul Miller’s book and the Apostle Paul’s writings are guiding me in that direction. I’m gradually learning to pray not just for the current circumstances of life and people to change, but for faith legs to support each person involved. I pray for our roots to grow down deep, drinking in God’s love for us. The former Pharisee Paul prayed this way, as recorded in Ephesians 1: 17-21 (NIV)

 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strengthhe exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

A lot of my prayers are still in elementary school mode. Dear God, please make this work out the way I want, for I am trusting you.

It’s time for me to move up to middle school and grow some more.

What if I’m praying wrong?

February 29, 2024

Maria God's will, Healing, Holy Spirit, James 5, Matthew 6, Prayer, Romans 8, The Lord's Prayer , , , Leave a comment

…we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us….. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will…..Romans 8:26-27 NLT

Wednesday night at the prayer meeting, knowing that most of the shared prayer requests involve physical healing, surgeries and care for loved ones and friends, Pastor Joe gave us some guidance.  Though God does want us to pray for bodily and mental wellness, we should also add petitions for spiritual healing in each of these cases. He cited James’ teaching on healing prayers that include requests for forgiveness of sins.

He further reminded us how God is working good in and through all painful situations for believers (Romans 8:28) and that the Holy Spirit prays for us.

I couldn’t remember where in Chapter 8 God teaches that the Spirit in us actually intercedes for us, so I looked up those passages this morning.

I felt relieved AND excited to read that the Holy Spirit continually aligns his prayers with God’s will.  And that the Father knows what the Spirit is praying for, on my behalf.

Haven’t you heard teaching that reassures us that if God knows what we need, that implies he’s going to act on it? But what if I’m not sure what I need?  What if all my prayers are just about what I want him to do? As in: just remove this XYZ suffering and make everything get back to normal!

How stunning to know that the Father actually has specific things he wants you and me to pray for. That makes me curious? What does our God want us to pray for?

Maybe Jesus’ model prayer pops into your mind. When asked, our Lord responded to his disciples, with:  Pray like this….. Father, may your name be made famous and honored by all, cause your kingdom to come more and more, and may all of your will be done…..

That’s a good place to start. Beyond that, if we don’t know all of what God wants, the Bible is replete with enough about his purposes that we can incorporate more of those into our prayers.

I want to grow in this way. For example, when I pray for one of Mike’s meetings ‘to go well’, I could add: Cause Mike to remember that you are guiding him always, so he has no need to be nervous.  ….or…… As you protect us on this trip, may we be looking for how you provide just what we need in every circumstance. Remind us to relax into your fatherly, loving and good care. For then we can praise you and share with others how you always come through!

I’m excited to expand how I pray AND I am grateful to God for providing the Holy Spirit as my safety net. Even when I pray ‘selfishly,’ unaware of all I COULD be asking for, the Spirit takes my prayers and aligns them with what the Father would like to have me pray. Thank you, three-in-one God!

What do you want most in life?

August 4, 2023

Maria 1 Kings 3, Desire, God's will, John 15, Matthew 6, Matthew 7, Psalm 2, Psalm 37, The Lord's Prayer, Words , , 2 Comments

… the LORD appeared to Solomon …. in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you………I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart…” 1 Kings 3:5, 12 NIV

Do you have your 15-30 second elevator speech ready?

Aspiring, focused visionaries, whether actors or entrepreneurs, know what they want and prepare themselves to ask without hesitation should the ‘right person’ come along. When they step into an elevator and recognize someone who might facilitate a connection or provide a contact they are ready to make the ask and give their why without shame or stumbling around.

King Solomon similarly prepared himself.  He knew what he lacked, which skill or quality without which he could not rule the people entrusted to him.

This is easy to imagine. For as the newly enthroned king, can’t you just picture the depth and weight of his overwhelm, following in the footsteps of his dad, King David?

We know that God loved Solomon, for he chose THIS son, NOT David’s oldest, to govern his own people.  The Almighty illustrates his tender care by coming to the new ruler in the middle of a night’s anxious tossing and turning.  When the Father asks Solomon what he wants or needs, the young king is ready with his ask. You know that if he is dreaming this encounter, his desire has penetrated the deeps of his heart.  This is no casual afterthought. 

From this conversational dream, I note the power of our words, our pleas for help, underscored by God’s response to Solomon, who requested understanding to govern.  God’s quick response literally is, ‘I do or I bring about or I make happen according to your WORDS.’  What we speak, reflects our core beliefs and our words matter more than we imagine.

What David’s son requested; God granted. Solomon’s ‘spoken’ words in his dream sprang from his heart’s desires.

God teaches us to learn, know, desire, guard and declare what his Word proclaims. As my friend, Mayra, says: ‘our words augment or build up our faith’.  Of course, any unbelieving word we speak, an articulated belief which don’t fit reality (aka: God’s truth), quite naturally diminishes and damage our confidence in God.

Cycling back to my initial question, just what is it that you desire?  God both evaluates and encourages our desires.

Psalm 37:4 Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart’s desire. (NAB)

Are you and I ready to tell God what we want?  I am!  Pain has convinced me of that.  I have asked God to heal my body and I am proclaiming to myself and to others that he already has. It is what I most desire right now.

Maybe some of you feel uneasy with this lavish but serious fact about God.  Your counter argument might go, “We can’t just ask God for a Maserati because that is what we desire!” Well, why not?

I believe our Father trusts all of his children who delight in, who LOVE more than anything just to be with him, to listen to him, to hang out with him.  Isn’t that what the text says?  Those who LOVE his presence and company above all else in the world are invited, are encouraged to take him up on his offer.

Jesus taught likewise.  John records the Savior’s promise to the disciples in John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. (NAB)

‘Remain in Jesus. Delight in God more than in anything or anyone.’ I don’t see any contradiction between loving God with my whole heart so that I want to be near him throughout the day and night AND still desiring other, lesser things.

Taking God simply at this word, I’ve asked and I’m daily asking Jesus for healing. And that’s just the top of my list of desires.

But what if my desires are not in God’s will? I would counsel, get some practice praying for what God’s word DOES tell us we are to ask. ‘Pray like this:  …..Holy be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. Matthew 6:9  Ask of me and I will give….Psalm 2:8. ‘Ask, and you shall receive.  Matthew 7:7.’   

Dallas Willard addresses our fear of being TOO out there with our longings by sharing an illustration of why God trusts us, giving us liberty to ask what we want.

“When our children were small, they were often completely in my will as they played in the back garden, though I had not told them to do the particular things they were doing. They would still have been within my will even if they were playing in their rooms or having a snack in the kitchen.” (page 27, Hearing God through the Year)

Where were his kids at this time? They were abiding in their father’s house, with him. He was within an ear’s range.  They could do what they wanted; all the while attentive to Dad’s call. But I bet my last bite of avocado that if their father had called to them to come share a board game or to play hide-and-seek or fight imaginary dragons they would have come running.  Time with Dad was what they most delighted in.

So, I ask you, what do you want?  Give me an idea of at least ONE thing.

Do you bear the brand?

April 27, 2023

Maria Ephesians 1, God's will, Holy Spirit , 3 Comments

Over the past few months, we’ve watched three seasons of a series portraying a dysfunctional family and its ranch in Montana. John Dutton represents the third generation to own and operate this beautiful and extensive property.

Running and managing the ranch with its land and herds requires many workers. Some ranch hands they simply hire. They tend to work for a while and then move on. But others are especially selected and ‘invited’ to live and work permanently for John Dutton and the family.

None of these long-term workers are forced to belong. They are presented a choice and willingly accede. Upon making the decision to join, they undergo a ceremony in the presence of the rest of this select group. They bare their chests and receive a brand, marking them as John Dutton’s own.

The branded ones live and work together with the temporary hires. The outside world discerns no difference between them. But they are very distinct.

Having willingly pledged whole-heartedly to serve John Dutton, they no longer live for themselves.  If they doubt the need for or ‘rightness’ of an assignment, they might grumble among themselves, but they comply. They show their unswerving loyalty. John Dutton, for his part, takes good care of them, whatever the mishap or suffering they undergo. He treats them as part of the Dutton family, though not on par with his children who will inherit the ranch.

Christians, as well, belong to and serve an owner.  When we learned of the kingdom of God, when we were given eyes to see and a heart to know the one true and living God, we had a choice. We could accept the invitation into this new realm, or we could stay outside, living for ourselves and accepting whatever future consequences awaited us.

Crossing the threshold includes being ‘branded’ or sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Members of the ‘kingdom of light’ don’t bare a visible brand, but we do belong to someone else.

I’ve been comparing my outward behavior and attitude towards Jesus with that of those who belong to John Dutton.  The noticeable difference in their response and relationship to their boss contrasts with the hired men and women ‘just passing through’.

I wonder how someone would know that I belong to the Lord? Do my face, the rest of my body language, my words, my actions and reactions resemble Jesus at all? Or do I act like a hired servant who doesn’t love his master?

Just thinking.

In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]. Ephesians 1:13 Amplified Bible

How do you ‘measure’ your day?

February 2, 2023

Maria Creation, God's Glory, God's will , 2 Comments

Two new paradigms came my way in the past week – model for evaluating the day’s activities.

Probably like most people, each morning I jot down a list of tasks, meetings and people to contact that day.  I’ve learned to hold these ‘assignments’ loosely, trusting God’s timing.

As I write this reflection piece, we are prepping to travel down to Florida to visit family.  Getting ready takes time away from my ‘normal’ Monday and Tuesday.  This morning as I thought through the day, I felt some stress mounting.

But then I remembered that I don’t have to measure the day according to ‘what I got done’. 

Yesterday during our church’s annual meeting, Joe reminded us how our church and each of us have already received our life’s purpose. (Older English calls our reason for being or existing our chief end):

“What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Question 1, The Westminster Shorter Catechism

Joe added that when we pass from this life into the next, our purpose will remain the same.  We will have millennia to glorify and enjoy God.

How’s that for simplicity plus a resounding affirmation of our intentional creation by our supernatural, immaterial, invisible but VERY real God! We have been designed with a purpose, HIS purpose. We are not random accidents.

So, this morning as I tensed a bit looking over my list, the Holy Spirit reminded me, “Maria, your day does not consist in getting things done, checking off your ‘to-do’s’ Remember why I created you!”  I breathed easier.

If that were not enough, the Lord had already gifted me with another larger way to take stock of each day. Last Friday, I read something during my morning meet up with Jesus that prompted this journal entry:

“The most important thing about me is what is immaterial and therefore immortal – my soul!!!”

If that is true, and I believe it is, then shouldn’t I align all I do to support the health and growth of my soul? 

“Maria, what does THAT mean? And how do you relate ‘soul’ work to everyday life?”

I don’t have all that figured out, but I sense this is a seismic shift that has long been coming and for which I feel ready to receive and make the necessary changes in my thinking and thus in my doing.

I will leave you, however, with one particular way to apply these new paradigms of glorifying and enjoying God throughout the day and valuing my eternal soul more than my temporary and decaying body and mind.  If I don’t get to the gym, or pay bills, it’s still a good day if I obeyed Jesus and exercised patience and compassion. I fulfilled part of my purpose in this life, if I handed over all my worries to God and thanked him for everything that he brought my way.

I hope to update you in a couple of months and let you know how the Lord has been changing my daily priorities.

Is God behind all this global suffering?

June 7, 2020

Maria Deuteronomy 15, God's will, Isaiah 46, Philippians 4, Poverty, Salvation, Sovereignty of God, Struggles, suffering, Thinking, Thoughts, Trials, Trusting God , , , , , Leave a comment

News agencies world wide report droughts, floods, murders, homelessness, job loss, disease and more.

Christian organizations such as Open Doors post pleas for prayer:

  • Unprotected, Christians murdered in Nigeria
  • West Africans suffering from Fulani, sickness and little food
  • Locusts in East Africa destroy crops
  • Daily assaults on Christians in Asian country

Is all this suffering from God’s hand?

I am a Christian who believes that the Bible is the true word of God. I thus accept as fact what God teaches, that nothing happens outside His sovereign will. (some thoughts about ‘two wills’ of God)

Isaiah 46:9-10  I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.
 I make known the end from the beginning,
    from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
    and I will do all that I please.

I am thinking, thinking a lot these days and reasoning from what I know, from what God says in His Word. He doesn’t answer all my questions, but there is enough truth for me to ponder and think clearly.  He expects me, as one of His, to apply my mind. ‘Think on these things’, Paul exhorts in Phil 4:8.

I know that all that has befallen me in my 6 decades: the bad, the painful, the shameful, the sicknesses, the sin, the blessings, the rescues, the deliverances, the joys, the ‘pleasants’….all have been planned for my good, to bring me to Jesus (rescuing me from the right judgement of my guilt and fair eternal penalty) and to make me holy like Him.  If God is God and if He is good, wise, all-powerful, faithful and loving, then He has good reason, good purposes for what He does.  Whether I see His reasons. Whether I agree with them or not.

I don’t struggle with that anymore IN MY OWN LIFE. 

But recently I’ve been thinking those who are REALLY suffering in the world, in what we call the 3rd-world areas. (Is there a ‘second-world’ label??)

My pain and struggles have been those of an advantaged American born in the second half of the 20th century.  Past and present – far more people have been and are overcome by poverty, hopelessness, violence, hunger, sickness, disastrous weather and terrorism.  Does God work all those imagination-defying ‘awfuls’ to bring SOME to Christ and make THEM more like Jesus? Are these conditions His tailored will for their lives, just as my circumstances are for me?

That is what I have been wondering.  And it’s a new idea for me.

Not for a moment do I think this is merely an intellectual exercise, that God intends for me just to ponder logically when I read of 3rd-world suffering.   Why not? Because all through the Bible, God’s people are commanded to take care of and provide for the down-and-out in our reach.

  • Deut 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.

In just the week that this topic has been on my mind, my conclusion is that somehow, in God’s wisdom, those who are His, those whom He is calling from each people group, He has placed in the designed location, time and circumstances best suited for their hearing and responding to the Gospel.  No, He doesn’t condone violence and oppression of the poor. But He does ordain what is at the ‘moment’ an evil for a greater good since He KNOWS has PLANNED and will bring about the eventual outcome. All through the Bible we read that His hand is behind droughts (think Naomi and Ruth), slavery (Joseph to Egypt) leprosy (Naaman), murder plots (Esther and the Jews), imprisonment (Paul and the Philippian jailor).

I choose to hold fast to what I know is true about our God.  I have learned that He is trustworthy.  I don’t have to understand or see His reasons to accept that what breaks my heart will one day be the cause of my praise for the resulting beauty of his Grace revealed.

In the meantime, may He keep my heart soft both to call on Him for justice and relief and to be part of His provision.