Trusting God Through Suffering, Setbacks, and Hard Questions

Editor’s note – Gwen writes about ordinary frustrations, a tight budget, a shuttered pool, and about the far harder question of why God permits suffering at all. We’re running this piece because it doesn’t pretend those two things live in separate rooms. The same trust that waits on God for a way through a financial pinch is the trust her online friend Notch keeps pressing her to defend on far larger terms. Watching her hold that line, in both places, is worth a reader’s time.

Financial Bumps and Faith

To swim or not to swim, that is this morning’s question for me.

Waiting on The Lord in this season.

As much as I want to share with you the intimate details of our latest financial dilemma, I am prompted by The Spirit to wait on The Lord until the solution has been provided and then share the circumstances after the manna has rained down.

I was tempted to call it a “financial hardship,” but that wouldn’t be keeping it real. It’s merely a bump in the road until God answers our prayers with a way out, which He is always faithful to do.

Editor’s note – Withholding the details until the answer comes is a small act of discipline that most of us skip. It’s easier to ask for prayer with the whole story attached, anxieties and all, than to wait and let the testimony speak for itself later. Gwen’s choice to do it the harder way is worth noticing.

Disruptions to the Swimming Routine

Regarding the swimming aspect of this topic, it’s rather ironic that the goal of swimming consistently as my preferred workout and the dream of owning our own swimming pool have both been suspended indefinitely.

I had been praying for wisdom and discernment in the area of this dream specifically and was given some clear guidance. The truth is that our property, although big enough in size, is not at all conducive to accommodating a swimming pool because of the steep slopes and boulders. Not to mention the fact that we would have to finance a building project of that magnitude, which, truth be told, is not within our budget (and may never be). I am grateful for Dave Ramsey’s wisdom in his Financial Peace books and courses, where he clearly states the opposite of “The American Way” in the principle that reminds us: if you can’t comfortably afford it outright with cash right now, don’t buy it.

Recently, I came to terms of acceptance with this reality and decided to focus on gratitude for my local gym membership, where I am able to swim laps in place of owning my own pool or swim spa. Then today happened. I drove to the gym at 5-dark-30 in the morning, only to find that the pool was closed again indefinitely. There has also been a whole runaround with freezing my membership each time the pool is out of commission, which I am still working to resolve.

Once again, I fully recognize that these are all “Woe is me, first-world problems” nowhere near resembling a real financial hardship. I know better than to feel sorry for myself for not having access to luxury living. I also know that I can replace my swim workouts with hikes and may even be better off for it as I continue trusting God to make my paths straight.

Editor’s note – It would be easy to read the pool closures as trivial next to the dialogue on suffering that follows, but the two aren’t as far apart as they look. Both ask the same question in different sizes: can I trust God when my plans, large or small, get rerouted? Most days that question shows up in a closed gym, not a philosophy debate.

Engaging in Deep Dialogue

On a related note, I have put together a few samples of the kinds of conversations Notch and I engage in sometimes on my stories and often on others’ stories of mutual interest — each of us with polar-opposite agendas. We strive to hear one another out, hopefully modeling how to respectfully agree to disagree, even if nothing else is accomplished by our friendly banter.

Dialogue Transcription: Notch vs. Nora Gwen

From Zack Duncan’s story about taking up one’s cross linked here:

Notch

Where did pain (suffering) come from? It had a beginning, right?

Nora Gwen

Absolutely. Chapter 3 from the book of Genesis describes the origin of pain and suffering.

Notch

So an all-knowing God engineered a universe where a single bite of a fruit by one couple automatically punishes billions of innocent future generations with lifetimes of agonizing pain? And we are supposed to view that lifelong agony as a “touchstone for spiritual progress” instead of a punishment that isn’t proportional, just, merciful, or loving?

Nora Gwen

Your reasoning sounds an awful lot like one of the characters in that chapter you neglected to mention in your response Notch.

Notch

Turning me into the deceiver is a classic defensive reflex, Nora. I didn’t mention the serpent because that character has absolutely nothing to do with my question about the Designer of suffering. If I wanted to include Satan in this discussion, I could have asked why God chose to cast Satan down to the one planet where he was creating flawed humans, or why Satan possessed the knowledge of good and evil while Adam and Eve were left defenseless in a rigged arena. But I didn’t because that’s not what I want to focus on. I want to focus on suffering.

It is strange to me how Christians try to rewrite the narrative by claiming God designed suffering as a tool to make you “better,” when the Bible explicitly states it was created for one specific purpose: punishment. You can’t claim suffering is a righteous penalty for sin while simultaneously pretending it’s a beneficial spiritual gym membership.

My focus right now is strictly on the Designer’s creation of suffering and who He chose to apply it to. Accusing me of being a trickster doesn’t answer the core question: how is it proportional, just, merciful, or loving for an all-knowing God to universally punish billions of future generations with lifelong agony for a mistake they didn’t commit?

Nora Gwen

I want to focus on suffering.

Clearly.

Notch, I would be lying if I said I haven’t entertained ALL of those or similar thoughts and questions myself.

Contrary to what you may imagine, I am not a “Blind Faith-I’ll-believe-it-because-the-church-taught-it” kind of Jesus follower. With God as my witness, I question Bible stories all the time. Often, I don’t understand why God does what He does. I also can’t comprehend an existence not bound by time constraints, financial constraints, or proximity limitations. It absolutely blows my finite mind that Jesus could possibly desire or successfully sustain unique, individual, caring, and loving personal relationships with each one of His vulnerable, ignorant sheep as we learn, wander off, and grow through suffering (consequences) for our actions.

I would never tell another human that their suffering is a direct result of their disobedience to God. However, it is not at all difficult for me [most of the time] to see the direct correlation between my deepest suffering and my disobedience to my Heavenly Father’s wise directives. When my dad tells me to look both ways before crossing the street, and I get hit by a car because I didn’t listen, that’s on me.

Thank you for the “classic” compliment. Even Jesus referred to His beloved disciple Peter as “Satan,” His adversary, when Peter was getting in the way of the mission at hand in Matthew 16:23.

The reason I say it’s not “blind faith” for me is because I personally experience the very real love of Jesus each morning as I hike the local hills and experience His presence in a variety of tangible, very real ways.

My continual devotion, praise, and worship for GOD is not naive in the ignorant sense, but is naive in the Matthew 18:3 childlike wonder sense.

I sincerely hope this helps you understand where I’m coming from, since you appear to be quite concerned about my well-being as it relates to my spiritual beliefs.

Respectfully,
Nora Gwen

Editor’s note – Notch raises a real question that Scripture doesn’t dodge: Genesis 3 does trace suffering to sin, and the text is blunt about it. But the Bible never stops at Eden. It goes on to show a God who enters suffering Himself in Christ rather than merely assigning it, which is a different claim than the one Notch is arguing against.

Notch

… misunderstanding the nature of suffering. Suffering is a punishment, period. The idea of “growth” is simply a human construct … a desperate psychological coping mechanism created by humans to try and find meaning in horrific circumstances. If a person becomes more resilient after a tragedy, that is a testament to human survival, not divine intent. If God actively manufactured suffering as a mandatory catalyst for growth rather than a fixed penalty, it would be purely coercive.

Finally, hiding behind Matthew 18:3 to claim your faith is “childlike wonder” rather than something you arrived at because of a lack of critical thinking, is just another defense mechanism. A child trusts blindly because they lack the capacity to understand the world through critical thinking. But when an adult chooses “wonder” specifically to avoid applying critical thinking to an unjust system, it ceases to be a virtue; it becomes willful blindness. No amount of emotional comfort from a morning hike changes the logic of a blueprint that is fundamentally neither proportional, just, merciful, nor loving.

Nora Gwen

You’ve clearly given this perspective a lot of thought and consideration, Notch. I’m glad we can calmly “discuss” [via writing] our differing POVs with kindness as we respectfully agree to disagree.

Perhaps I am completely missing the thrust of your narrative, as you put it. Perhaps I prefer to remain like a child in the freedom of my faith.

Why does my chosen theological simplicity [ignorance is bliss philosophy] bother (for lack of a better word) you so much? Please help me to understand just that part.

I figure if I save up enough of these transcripts, it may go into a future book one day.

Looking back across these seemingly disconnected threads — the unexpected financial hurdles, the frustrating pool closures, and the demanding weight of theological debate — a single underlying narrative emerges. Whether wrestling with daily disruptions or searching for meaning within profound suffering, our lives are shaped by how we navigate tension and uncertainty. Embracing both the practical bumps in the road and the unresolved questions of faith ultimately calls us to cultivate patience, extend grace to others, and remain anchored in hope through every unpredictable season.

• How do you maintain trust and patience when unexpected financial or routine disruptions interrupt your daily life?
• In what ways can you approach challenging discussions with those who hold opposing views while preserving mutual respect and grace?
• Where in your current season can you reframe a persistent hardship as an opportunity for personal or spiritual growth?

A Word from the Editor
Job never got the explanation he asked for, only God Himself, and Job found that sufficient. Gwen’s stories, the financial wait, the closed pool, the friend who won’t let her off easy, are all smaller versions of the same encounter: circumstances that outrun our answers, and a God who asks to be trusted anyway. That trust isn’t blind. It’s aimed at a Person who has already shown, on a cross, exactly how far He’ll go for the ones He loves.

Editor Comment: You wait on the Lord before sharing your outcome, and that patience mirrors Psalm 37's call to trust God's timing. In the past I have discussed these issues back and forth many times with Notch. Though he may never understand the impact of faith, you set a good example for others to "fight the good fight" while being honest about our own human limitations of how it is faith, not always facts, that the believer relies on.

This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.