Psalm 374 makes to us a very sweet promise.

If you delight yourself in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart.

But what happens when you're doing that?

You're seeking him, praying to him, following him, trusting him, even delighting in him by faith.

And those deep desires, those desires for good things in this life go unmet.

That's where we find ourselves often.

That's where creation finds itself always groaning in this unfulfilled desire that we read about in Romans 822.

So how do we live by faith when we have to live with life's disappointments as well?

That's where we're headed today in this email from an anonymous woman.

Pastor John,

thank you for the ways you've encouraged my heart over the years. I rediscovered your ministry

five years ago, but my journey was suffering began long before that. Twenty years ago, I was in a

severe car wreck that left me in a four-month non-drug-induced coma. I spent the next decade

in therapy, relearning how to walk, talk,

and even swallow. Three times a week across three states for 10 years. Now at 52, I walk with a cane,

but look normal. No visible scars except for a trache scar. For years, I believed I was being refined for someone that this

suffering would lead to a godly marriage, but I've never even been kissed. I prayed for years to be

seen as a woman, not just my mother's daughter, yet it feels like God has not answered. Does this

mean I've been refined only for him?

How do I trust, ask, and it will be given to you when my deepest longing remains unmet?

Am I misunderstanding God's promises? My faith is wavering and I don't know how to keep believing.

I think it would be helpful to say that this woman's experience is a deep intensification of a very common experience.

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