When Bad Things Happen (with Kelsie Barnhart) - Episode 6
It's no secret that this world can let us down. It’s easy to look around and see brokenness, pain, heartache. We ask the age old question: “Why do bad things happen?” And yet, the Lord is faithful to us. He never leaves us to walk alone.
Kelsie Barnhart is a friend whose story has encouraged me over and over because of her vulnerability and faithfulness. In today’s episode, Kelsie shares her own journey of battling breast cancer at 27-years-old. She talks about how God comforted her in the midst of feeling let down, the greater purposes suffering can bring, how to feel joy and mourning at the same time, and so much more. I know you’ll be blessed by her today.
This episode is rich with difficult questions and thoughts we’ve all had at one time or another. I can't wait to hear how God uses it in your walk with Him.
My Key Takeaways
1) A prayer being answered with a no doesn’t negate God’s goodness. It's completely normal to feel let down when this happens, but we have a Savior who can sympathize and understand our weaknesses. Jesus himself asked for the cup to be passed before His crucifixion. Trials come our way as we live in a fallen world, yet God is still good.
2) God does not waste our pain. While He doesn’t promise us a perfect life, He does promise us an abundant one. Even as Kelsie saw opportunities to show Jesus to doctors and nurses around her, He can use our story as a way to share the gospel or for someone to see Jesus in us.
3) It’s okay to feel more than one thing at a time. We can give ourselves permission to feel emotions simultaneously: joy and mourning, thankfulness and fear, confusion and trust. God can handle our real, raw emotions.
4) Truth helps us hope. When we are tempted to lose hope in the midst of hard seasons, we can go back to what we know is true about God. What is true and unchanging? What does He say about this circumstance? His truth grounds us in hope.
Resources Related or Mentioned
- If you're walking through something difficult, our team would love to pray for you. Just send us an email.
- Wandering Wilde's Bible Study Journals
- Connect with Wandering Wilde on Facebook and Instagram.
Where I've Been Wandering
At the close of every episode of the podcast, I share a little bit about where I've been wandering in my own time with God. I’ve moved into 2 Corinthians 1, and verses 3 through 5 say: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
Such a beautiful truth that God comforts us in all afflictions. He is along every step of the way. He is unchanging, and he is faithful. And even beyond being comforted ourselves, we’re able to share that comfort with others. I’m so encouraged that God doesn’t waste our pain — He walks alongside us, comforts us, and redeems our story for our good and His glory. I pray that encourages your heart today as well!
Help Us Spread the Word
We want this to be an honest, encouraging, and inspirational resource to remind you that you're not alone, that you truly can grow closer to God each day, and that you have all you need to be transformed by the Word. We'd love for you to help us tell other women about it! You can do that in 2 ways:
1) If you listen on Apple Podcasts, please take a moment to leave a review! That's such a big help to us.
2) Send the link to this episode to a couple friends or family members that should hear it. I hope it even launches some good conversations!
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Again, thank you for listening and we'll be back with Episode 7 in just a couple weeks!
