Category Archives: Suffering

We Don’t Waste Our Trials When We Receive Them With Gratitude

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“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Eph. 5:20

We don’t waste our trials when we receive them with gratitude.

Puritan Gurnall wrote, “Christian, has not God taught you, by his word and Spirit, how to read the short-hand of his providence? Do you not know that the saints’ afflictions stand for blessings?”

We don’t have to understand all things, we just can’t understand them all. But because we know God and know that He is good and does all things good, we can receive the afflictions He sends our way with a complete submission to His will saying, “Thanks be to God. He is good!”


There are only two ways of receiving our trials: with thanksgiving to God or with a murmuring spirit against Him. One is the response of faith, the latter the response of unbelief. How will we respond?

Responding with gratitude, with faith will not necessarily shorten the road, but it will make it joyful -even as we cry at times! Responding with murmuring, with unbelief will make the road bitter and of course, it will feel as if it were longer and heavier.

A grateful heart has learned from the Father how to set a table and feast even when the enemies of our Lord and our soul roam around. A grateful heart remembers how to sing Psalms and how to kneel in prayer. A grateful heart can be brought low, but know that it will never be utterly crushed because it rests in God’s character and promises.

May the Lord give us grace to learn how to feast in the presence of our enemies and persevere with gratitude on the road He has chosen for us.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego

We don’t Waste Our Trials When we Receive Them from the Lord

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“You are good and do good” Psalm 119:68

We don’t waste our afflictions when we receive them as from the Lord (because they are from the Lord!)



When we receive our trials knowing that they come from the Lord, we can be assured that they will be for His glory and the good of His people. God is good and all He does is good and in that we should rest assured.

Many times, when we receive hard news or when we walk through a trial, especially when it is a lengthy one, we lose sight of God our Father and His character. Thomas Watson said that we must not get distracted by who brings the trial (who is the carrier, the messenger God chose to bring it to us), but look up and see God, who sent it our way. All our trials, our Pastor always reminds us, are hand-stitched for us, and our Father has all the measurements right. Each trial He sends our ways fits us perfectly, though we can only see that with the eyes of faith.

When we don’t understand what is happening and why things are happening the way they are, we must remember the immutability of God’s character. Jesus is interceding for us in the storm and reminding us not to fret and not be anxious, the Father is pouring His love and grace on us, and the Holy Spirit is reminding us of the truths of the Gospel, opening our eyes to see the good Triune God at work in the midst of our trial. Quoting Thomas Watson again, he said, “True faith will trust God’s heart—where it cannot trace His hand!”


May the Lord help us not to waste our trials! All is grace, the trial and the gift of not wasting it.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego


#DWYT
#ThomasWatson

Learning to Say “Amen”

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This year was like no other. It was a year in which grace abounded and the mercy of God found us at every turn of page in our calendars. This year, like none before, I learned how to say a robust “Amen!” to all the Providences of God in my life and the life of my family. It was not easy, we were tested in many hard ways, but learning to say “Amen and Amen” each day caused me to turn my eyes to the Lord and submit to His perfect will for us. And do you know what helped me most to say “Amen” to the circumstances that were crushing and that I didn’t understand? Being in the Word and practicing saying “Amen!” to what the Scriptures say.

“Amen to Your promises, Lord, yes! But amen also to the warnings, to the admonitions, amen to what You call sin, amen to what You hate and amen to what You love. Amen to Your mercy and grace and amen to Your righteous judgments. Amen to the things I understand and amen to the things I can’t explain. Amen to Your will being done on the earth -in my life!- as it is done in heaven. Amen when You give me ‘no’ as an answer. Amen to the dealings of the spirit in my life. Amen to receiving a cascade of gifts and undeserved blessings with open hands. Amen to the needs I have that draw me closer to You in prayer and remind me of my dependence on You. Amen to the songs You have put in my heart. Amen to the Psalms – all of them. Amen to Your Word working in my life. Amen to the tears and amen to the laughter. Amen to all things that in your good Providence you bring to my life to grow me. Amen to the the Winter, to the Spring, to the Fall, to the Summer. Amen and amen.”

May 2020  be year be a year of “Amens” for all of us. May we quickly learn not to complain and murmur and let unbelief take root in our hearts, but with the help of the Spirit, may we learn to submit ourselves to the Word of God and the work of the Spirit in our lives. God is good and He is at work, we cannot forget that.

Practice saying “Amen, Lord!” in the little things, in the little inconveniences of life, in the big events that turn your life upside down. Practice saying “Amen, Lord!” in the smallest and greatest joys,  say it in the kitchen and in the hospital.  Practice as your read the Word of God each day. Practice at the dinner table after saying grace, practice at church, let your “Amen” be always robust, heartfelt, from the bottom of your heart.

Under his sun and by grace,

Becky Pliego

Note: I wrote something along these lines, but more concise,  in the last weekly email for the Bible Reading Challenge, which you can find  here.

Faithful Obedience by Maddie Williams

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Maddie is a new friend to me. In the last months I came to know her better and all I have for her is respect and a deep love. She is a kind and joyous woman with a compassionate heart that never gets tired of reaching out to serve and love others, -her acts of kindness have touched our lives, and even my grandson gets to be snuggled in a precious baby blanket she knitted for him!

I am so grateful to have her share today with us about her difficult journey with infertility and our faithful God who always walks with us.

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God’s Faithfulness in the Wilderness of Infertility
by Maddie Williams

“And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 8: 2-3

This verse came to mind when Becky asked me to write something about faithful obedience and how it has affected me. God required faithful obedience from the Israelites as they wandered in the desert, and whether they were faithfully obedient to God had massive consequences. Those who obeyed (Joshua and Caleb) were able to enter the promised land, but those who disobeyed were left in the wilderness, never to enter the land flowing with milk and honey.

Infertility has been the greatest test of my obedience thus far in life, and years in, I still have so much to learn about how I can faithfully obey God in this “wilderness.” God has not given us babies yet because He loves us too much to give them to us right now, and one of the testaments of that love is what He has taught me in this time of waiting. God has taught me that faithful obedience reaps great blessings.

You see, I live in a town of many babies. I mean, many, many babies. Many friends’ babies, many nieces and nephews, many church babies. Not long into dealing with infertility the temptation became great to see each of those babies as reminders of what I didn’t have. Little fingers whispered that God had blessed someone else, but not me. Little giggles hinted that God loved someone else, but not me. Little toes suggested that lucky is she, but woe is me. Several times I gave in to those whispers of sin, using the fact that others had what I did not have as an excuse to wallow in my own sadness and self-pity. The more I wallowed, the harder infertility got, the darker my wilderness grew. The more I envied others with their sweet little babies, the sadder my life became.

God placed me in a wilderness, but He also placed the nourishment I needed to make it to the promised land right in front of me. When the Israelites were in the wilderness God fed them with manna. It was exactly what they needed to sustain and nourish them. When God gives us trials of our own, He also provides us with manna-like mercies to sustain and nourish us through our wildernesses. Ironically, I found that my “manna” was spending time with my nieces, nephews, and friends’ babies. But just like the Israelites, I was tempted to grumble about my manna and resent it. My manna came with a catch. In order to be nourished by it, I had to faithfully obey God and thank Him for it before I could reap the harvest. It was only when I obediently thanked God for blessing others and not me with the gift of children that I was able to feast off that “manna.” It was only when I rid myself of envy and bitterness that I was able to reap the blessing that God had placed right in front of my blind eyes. Not only did the pain of infertility practically vanish, but I also found what is now the greatest joy in my life.

I had to bless God for the blessings of others. And the coolest thing? God taught me to bless Him for the blessings of others, especially the blessings that I myself was still waiting on. Once I submitted in obedience to Him, my wilderness faded away. Now it is one of my greatest joys when my friends have babies. Ironically, I feel like I have the easiest time glorifying God for those gifts. I feel like I should be the one giving the MOST glory to God when I see friends receive what I don’t have. For I know, in a unique way that only some know, just how precious and glorious and undeserved those blessings are. I know firsthand that those blessings aren’t an accident. They’re not a lucky coincidence. They’re not good timing. They’re not fertility treatments. Instead, they are God’s power. They are God’s glory. They are God’s magic. And I have a backstage pass to the magic show. I should be the one giving Him the most praise for those gifts. Through infertility, God has made it easy for me to see just how glorious those many, many babies are.

When I started to respond to these gifts with obedience, God dramatically changed my heart. Now when I see the many babies surrounding me, I no longer see what God has withheld from me. Instead I see what God can do, for it’s no harder for God to give them babies than to give me babies. Now when I have my nieces and nephews over for a date, I no longer see what I’m missing. Instead I see little shoes scattered across my entryway, a sight that brings me so much joy. Now when I get to babysit for my friends, I no longer feel empty afterwards. Instead, my heart is filled to the brim with all the snuggles I just stole. Little did I know that when I started faithfully obeying God, He would bless that obedience hundredfold. When I obediently died to sin, God took that death and resurrected it. He turned the very thing that once caused hopelessness into what is now my greatest source of hope and joy. He turned what was once a wilderness into a land flowing with milk and honey. Praise Him for the babies, the little hands and big giggles, the baby showers, and the snuggles that He has fed me with. They are my greatest joys every day. They are my manna that fills up my cup to overflowing. They are living and breathing reminders to taste and see that the Lord is so very good. As I have learned to faithfully obey God and bless Him for the blessings of others, my wilderness has faded and my emptiness has been filled with joy. God greatly blessed my little mustard seed of obedience.

When we faithfully obey God, we see God’s greatest blessings. If we faithfully follow God even when we are weak, God will always bless our obedience. Our death to sin will be resurrected and raised to new life. And that shouldn’t surprise us because that’s the way God’s world works. Out of defeat, God conquered the powers of death and hell. Out of pain, God healed the greatest of all wounds. Out of despair, God brought the greatest joy. And out of death, God gives us eternal life.

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Faithful Obedience by Elise Warner

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Elise is one of the of those women that does the hard things with a tender heart. She and her husband have been close friends to my children and they all say that she is a very special friend, a loyal friend, a godly friend. Today I’m honored to have her share with us in our series, Faithful Obedience.

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Perfect Grace and Blueberry Muffins
by Elise Warner

My whole body shivered uncontrollably as I curled up on my side, trying to position the pillow perfectly to cradle my neck without putting any pressure on the screaming nerves and muscles. My husband gently placed the heat pack on my shoulders as he has countless times over the course of our relationship. I smiled, but I wanted to cry. Not this week, Lord. Not this week. Why now? It was Josiah’s first week of medical school. And it wasn’t going according to plan.

If you were a fly on the wall of my home, you would quickly realize that I have a thing for charts. There is a wall calendar, a daily planner, a work to-do list, and an ideal daily schedule in the room with me as I write. My brain craves order. And while that is not a sin, control has often been my idol—an idol that is never satisfied and leaves me filled with anxiety as I try to predict what the next day, month, year will hold.

I was nineteen when the subtle theme of needing to surrender and trust my God became a resounding cymbal. Now I like to joke with my family that my stubborn do-it-all attitude meant God needed to slap me upside the head to stop me from running off a cliff. And he did it through a pinched nerve in my neck that set off a chain reaction leaving me bed-ridden for a short time and physically limited for, well, seven years now.

Josiah and I spent the weeks leading up to the start of medical school carefully preparing. We wrote down principles, guidelines, and (of course) schedules to help us navigate this new season. I thought we were ready. That I had everything in place to control how this week would go. I had even planned out what I needed to pack for his lunches and how I would make him blueberry muffins for his first day as a surprise breakfast item. I had everything ready, all my ducks in a row, and I was going to make starting school easy for my husband.

Instead, I spent the first three days in worst pain than I have been in for over a year—exhausted, unable to stomach much food, barely able to hold my five month old without feeling sick. I got behind in my Bible reading—little boxes left unchecked. The idea of blueberry muffins was laughable. I needed my husband to put our daughter down, rock her, play with her while his pile of schoolwork loomed large on the desk in our room.

Thursday I woke up feeling physically better. Spiritually, I was grumpy. I struggled to pray out my frustration, to confess my anxiety, to find gratitude, to believe that the Lord could work through me. How can I be a good mom if I can’t even play with my daughter? How can I be a good wife, run a hospitable home, bake those stupid muffins if I am so easily debilitated? I grudgingly opened my Bible, knowing that I needed to preach truth to myself. I checked my reading plan to see what I needed to catch up on. 2 Corinthians.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

How gracious is our Lord? He uses my small trial to topple my idol over and over. And when I come back to him broken, frustrated, and confused—he always meets me and reminds me of the kind of God I am learning to surrender to. His grace is always enough. He will do far more with my weakness than I can ever do with my plans and schedules. He is my strength, my shield, my keeper, my redeemer. And when he demands that I surrender and trust him, he is doing it for my own good so that he can bring me more and more into the light of His glory. To surrender to him is to be made strong.

I don’t know if my head injury will ever be healed—if I will ever be able to play a game of volleyball or go on a run without meeting pain the next morning or if I will ever be able to do a small morning workout without wondering if it will throw my daily plans out the window. I wish that I could entirely predict what will cause a horrible episode like this week. I pray that one day it will simply be gone. But even more than I wish for healing, I wish that I never forgot His promises. I wish that I could wake up one day and never doubt His goodness, never question whether I really should trust Him. I pray that I will be a woman filled with peace and freedom, knowing that my God is in control. My flesh and heart fail me daily. But God’s grace. God’s grace never fails and never runs out. It meets me in my need through His Word, pointing me outward and upward towards Him. It meets me in my daughter and husband and all the gifts I have to rejoice in. It meets me in medicine and doctors and heat packs. When I faithfully open my eyes to find his grace, it overwhelms every aspect of my life. Even in blueberry muffins baked just a few days late.

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Don’t know where to find a plan that will help you start, keep up, and finish reading the Bible? Find us here! We would love for you to join us!

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Do Not Waste Your Sighs

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Screen Shot 2019-07-04 at 1.14.24 PM“Dear reader, in the time of your trouble, do not roam; do not send out your sighs into vacancy; do not let your thoughts wander, as though they were looking for some  one on whom to fix; for some one to whom you could tell the story of your heart’s need, and desolation. Fix your heart, as the Psalmist did, and say, ‘Unto Thee will I cry.'”

P.B. Power, The ‘I Wills’ of the Psalms