How A Faithful Girl Responds to Suffering

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us, one hike at a time! And we’re growing closer to each other and closer to Jesus! 

In this season of the True Girl podcast, “Becoming a Girl of Faithfulness,” Dannah Gresh and Staci Rudolph have been hiking through Dannah’s farmland with a donkey named Cassie. And we’ve been studying the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This season is based on our newest True Girl Bible study—Mary: Becoming a Girl of Faithfulness.

Today, Dannah and Staci are going to learn the final lesson in faithfulness based on the life of Mary.

Here’s the last episode of season 10, “Becoming a Girl of Faithfulness.” Strap on your hiking books to learn how a faithful girl responds to suffering.

Dannah Gresh: “We’re True Girls and we’re here to say . . .”

Staci Rudolph: “We’re True Girls and we’re here to say . . .”

Dannah: “We love the wilderness today!”

Staci: “We love the wilderness today!”

Dannah: “Staci was afraid to camp . . .”

Staci: “Staci was afraid to camp . . .”

Dannah: “But she handled it like a champ!”

Staci: “But she handled it like a champ!”

Dannah: “Sound off!”

Staci: “One, two!”

Dannah: “Sound off!”

Staci: Skunk!!!!

Dannah: Uhh no, Staci. It’s, “Three, four.” Not skunk.

Staci: No, there’s a skunk. He’s right here, and he doesn’t look happy to see me.

Dannah: Nooooo, there can’t be a . . . [nervous laugh]Oh, hello there, Mr. Skunk.

Staci: See! Told ya. Easy there, Mr. Skunk. Please don’t spray us!

[Donkey bray]

Dannah: Yeah, we know, Cassie. We don’t wanna be sprayed either. We’ll just back away nice and . . . 

Staci: Oh no! He’s raising his tail. I’ve gotta get out of here!

Dannah: Staci, don’t move too fast! He’ll see that as a threat, and there’s too much brush! We won’t get away fast. Just go nice and . . . slow . . .

[Spraying sound]

Staci: Nooooooooo!! I’ve been hit!!

Dannah: Oh, no!Me too! Cover your face; don’t let it get in your eyes!

Staci: I told you he wasn’t messing around! What are we gonna do now?!

Dannah: Our last day of camping couldn’t have come any sooner. I guess we head back my house to get cleaned up. We can come back to the camping site later and pack it up, I guess, when we don’t stink. 

Staci: I can’t believe this. I was already smelling a little rough after all this camping. But now I’m on a whole other level!

Dannah: Me too, Staci. Me too.

[Donkey bray]

I think Cassie’s trying to tell us we stink. Look at her nose twitching. Good thing she didn’t get sprayed!

Ah Staci, since we’re wrapping up our trip, we should wrap up Mary’s story on the way back. But before we do, let’s do a quick recap of our previous faithfulness lessons.

Staci: Are you trying to keep my mind off of how bad we smell?

Dannah: Nope, I’m trying to keep my mind off of how bad we smell.

Staci: Gotcha. Okay, so here’s what I remember:

Faithfulness Lesson # 1: A faithful girl trusts in God’s plan. 

She chooses to believe that God is in control and is leading her down the best path. She knows His plans are always good and doesn’t need to see the whole story to follow what He’s asked her to do right now.

Dannah: Yep

Staci: Faithfulness lesson # 2: A faithful girl worships when she feels like whining.

Instead of focusing on all the hard and scary parts of a situation, she chooses to focus on God and His strength, power, and faithfulness. She worships Him for who He is and all He’s done!

Dannah: Exactly. 

Staci: Faithfulness Lesson # 3: A faithful girl is immediately obedient. 

She doesn’t delay in doing what God has instructed her to do in the moment. 

Dannah: That’s right. 

Staci: Faithfulness Lesson # 4: A faithful girl is content in the magnificent or the mundane. 

She knows that her heart should be the same rather she’s doing ordinary things or really cool ones. After all, the everyday moments in life are the pathway to the magnificent ones.

Dannah: Absolutely!

Staci: And finally, faithfulness lesson # 5: A Faithful Girl Believes God Will Provide.

She knows she’s taken care of and just has to simply ask for what she needs. God meets all of our desires when they are in line with His will or plan for our life.

Dannah: Great job, Staci! You remembered all of them.

Staci: Thanks! Now the real question is, “What’s the final faithfulness lesson gonna be?”

Dannah: Well, before I tell you, I’ve got to share a story. It’ll help faithfulness lesson # 6 make a lot more sense.

So, you’ve met my peacock Napoleon, right?

Staci: Uh huh.

Dannah: Well, I will never forget the first moment I saw him, tucked under his mama’s wing. 

Napoleon’s mom was Roxy, a white peahen. She had gone missing for several weeks. Then one day I saw her perched on a fence post. So did my 1,500-pound horse, who got to Roxy before I did. She was pressing against her when I arrived. Well, I wondered why Roxy didn’t fly off and protect herself. And that’s when I saw a little chick, tucked in the safety of her mama’s wing. That mama bird was immovable!

It reminded me of Psalm 91:4 where God promises: “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge” (ESV).

And I thought that if a ten-pound peahen refused to move for a mighty horse, I promise you, God is not budging from His position of sheltering you. Whatever is troubling you today, troubles Him. And He intends to shield and protect you.

Well, my dear Napoleon taught me this beautiful lesson and was my friend for ten years. He came to my back deck each morning for a little visit and for peanuts and blueberries. If I was late with breakfast, he came to my bedroom window and called to wake me up! I nursed him through a terrible parasite sickness. I bandaged up his bare back after a dog attacked him. He was always so sweet and gentle, even when what I did was uncomfortable.

I loved him.

Staci: I’m really sorry about what happened to him the other day.

Dannah: Thanks, Staci. I can’t believe that predator got him but that’s nature.

I’m so very grateful that God entrusted Napoleon to my care, but now I really miss him. And I just felt like doing nothing but crying the next day.

And you know what?

Staci: What?

Dannah: We’re all going to have days like that. Sometimes it is even the best response to what’s going on in your life. I mean, have you ever lost a pet before?

Staci: Yeah. We had to put our dog down a few years ago, and it was super sad.

Dannah: That is sad. What was his name?

Staci: Blanco. 

Ah, now I stink, and I’m sad.

Dannah: Yeah, me too. 

You know, sometimes it’s even worse and we lose a grandma or grandpa. Maybe even a mom or dad. Death is very sad.

Staci: It sure is

Dannah: You know, every single time I feel the sadness of death, I remember that God did not want it to be a part of our world. It is why we needed a Savior. Jesus is the only One who gives us hope to overcome this kind of pain in our world.

As we finish looking at Mary’s story, we’ll need to talk about something a lot of people don’t like to talk about: pain and suffering, including death.

Well, here we are back at my house. Let’s make a plan of attack for unstinking ourselves before we keep talking about this. 

Staci: Sounds like a plan.

We’re not gonna have to take a tomato bath are we?! I hate tomatoes.

Dannah: Nah, that’s actually a myth. Tomato juice doesn’t do much to eliminate skunk smell. I mean, Moosie’s been sprayed a few times, so I’ve got a remedy that will work.

That’s warm water, believe it or not. And this is hydrogen peroxide. I keep it here for any time one of the animals gets skunked. Let me mix it with some water and dish detergent.

Okay, now we scrub. Before we go inside for a shower, we’ve got to get the skunk oil off before we go in.

Dannah: So, back to what we were talking about. You did a great job recalling all of our faithfulness lessons, but do you know why faithfulness is even important?

Staci: Well, it’s a quality that God is amazing at showing and since we’re trying to be more like Him each day, I’d think we’d want to show it too as a way to say thank you to Him.

Dannah: Yep! That’s it. And from the beginning of time, God has been faithful to us even though humankind has been full of sin and evil. He has never stopped being faithful, and we should want to be faithful to God out of gratitude for that faithfulness.

One of God’s greatest gifts of faithfulness to us is Jesus! And Mary was a really important part of God’s plan to give us the gift of Jesus. That’s why I chose to study her story. It’s so closely connected to God’s greatest gift of faithfulness. 

But Staci, do you know what Romans 3:23 says?

Staci: Yep! It says,

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Dannah: Way to go!

Staci: Thanks.

Dannah: That verse tells the truth. 

I have sinned. You have sinned. We have all sinned, and because of this, we all experience separation from God and death. Sin is the reason that we feel any kind of pain or suffering. But God did not want us to be apart from Him. He did not want us to suffer. He didn’t want us to die forever. 

So from the beginning, He planned to fix the problem of sin and death. Both you and I know that Jesus was part of the super-ginormous plan to rescue the world. But what about before Him? What did people do about their sin way back then?

Staci: What did they do? 

Dannah: Well, do you know what the word “covenant”means?

Staci: It’s a promise—like a really serious one. 

Dannah: Yes ma’am. A covenant is a kind of promise, but it is also a form of unfailing love. It’s a

relationship, and it’s very complicated. The love of God is so strong that even when we make bad mistakes or are sinful, He promises to still love and care for us. He is faithful! A covenant is kind of like His unbreakable promise to be faithful. Nothing can stop a covenant-keeping God from taking care of His people. He’s going to without fail. He always helps them in their time of need—no matter what!

Staci: Why is God so faithful? I mean, we mess up all the time and don’t really deserve that kind of commitment.

Dannah: You wanna know why He’s so faithful to us? It’s because God loves His people, all of the time, no matter what!

The Old Testament teaches us about the old covenant of God’s promise. Now, here’s the thing: even though God loves us no matter what, He does not like how sin hurts us. So, He gave His people the old covenant, which was made up of a lo-o-ong list of laws and rules they needed to follow to avoid sin. 

And if they did sin, there were laws and rules to follow to be forgiven. These included offering sacrifices when they sinned. Sometimes these sacrifices were crops, and other times they were animals. Both were things that mattered to them—true sacrifices from their lives.

Now, one notable sacrifice was a lamb. And not just any lamb from the flock . . . it had to be a spotless lamb that wasn’t wounded or scarred.It was an extra-special one. When that lamb was sacrificed, the sins of a person or family were forgiven. 

You know, I imagine each time that they saw a lamb die they remembered that sin causes death. I feel that every time an animal dies on my farm, Staci. But through that lamb’s death, they were forgiven. 

Now, God never meant for the old covenant to be permanent. It was a lot of work for the Israelites to obey all the rules and laws of the covenant. God knew that humans couldn’t keep up this constant sacrificial cycle. That’s why He had a super-ginormous plan to rescue the world: a Savior. I can imagine every time they heard another prophecy about the coming Savior, it made them hopeful!

[Turn off water hose.]

Here, go ahead and use this to dry off.

Staci: You are prepared. It’s almost like . . .

Dannah: Like I’ve been skunked before? Yep, this isn’t my first stink rodeo!

Okay, back to what we were talking about. Now, get my hands dried off here . . . I’m going to break the no tech rule one more time but only for the purposes of reading the next passage I want to talk about.

Okay, let me find it . . . ah, here we go. 

Let’s just sit down and let all that scrubbing do its work. Can you read, right in John 19, verse 16b all the way to 30?

Staci: Okay, here we go…

So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.

Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”

Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.

Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Dannah: Oh, you know, listening to this part of the Bible makes my heart just want to break. Roman crucifixions were known as one of the most terrible and painful ways to die. Jesus suffered horribly on that cross.

Staci: His hands and feet being nailed, that crown of thorns on His head. That’s so hard to think about.

Dannah: Yes, it is. And sometimes people picture Jesus all alone on the cross, with just two criminals beside Him. But Jesus wasn’t alone. There was a crowd of people mocking Him, soldiers insulting Him, and a few friends and followers crying. Some of them were right next to the cross.

Who does John 19:25 tell us was standing next to the cross?

Staci: His mom.

Dannah: Yep. Mary was there. I can’t imagine that. Being right there as that’s happening to someone I love so dearly.

But remember when Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus to the temple to dedicate Him? Simeon spoke to Mary and told her that “a sword will pierce your very soul”

Sometimes, I wonder if she thought of those words when she stood by the cross, watching Jesus die. Perhaps this moment at the cross was the ultimate sword that pierced her soul. You see, he suffering of Jesus was also a suffering for Mary.

But even as He was suffering on the cross, Jesus compassionately looks at His mom and remembers that she needs someone else to take care of her since He will no longer be able to do it. In His dying moments, Jesus makes plans to have his friend and follower, John, take care of her from now on. That’s our Jesus. He loves us and cares for us in our times of suffering.

Okay, it’s time for our last faithfulness lesson.

Faithfulness Lesson # 6: A faithful girl is loved by God through suffering.

Staci: ait, that faithfulness lesson doesn’t have an action point for me. It doesn’t tell me how to be a girl of faithfulness.

Dannah: I’m glad you caught that because there’s a reason for it. You see, it’s easy to make being faithful to God all about us. We can fall into a trap to do a lot of things and follow a lot of rules. And sometimes there are things that are important to do, but mostly faithfulness is about being near Jesus so we can be changed by His love.

Mary stood near Jesus. She was loved by Him in a time of great suffering. Yes, there was grief. Yes, there were tears. Yes, there was a cross and a grave. But, as she stood at the foot of the cross, Mary was loved. There in her pain, she experienced God’s faithfulness in a truly special way.

There was nothing else Mary did that day at the cross . . . other than just being there! Her job was just to be near the cross and receive the love of God. Now not long after, Jesus spoke His last words and breathed His last breath.

In John 19:30, Jesus said “It is finished.”

That basically meant “the old covenant is over.” You know, during that time, they had been hearing the prophecies about a coming Savior. And He had finally come. In John 1:29, John the Baptist recognized that the Savior had finally come, and he said “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Jesus was and is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”Jesus was the final sacrificial lamb that God’s people had been waiting for. When He died, He said, “It is finished,” to declare that the constant killing of sacrifices for sin was paid once-and-for-all. Because of Jesus, the old covenant was no longer needed.

Staci: Hallelujah!

Dannah: Hallelujah is right! Through Jesus, God faithfully saved the entire world from sin and death. He has established a new, unbreakable promise of faithfulness. The new covenant was made possible through the death of Jesus. The old one was no longer necessary. No more sacrificing lambs.

Staci: So, do we know what happened to Mary after all of this?

Dannah: After Jesus’ death, we don’t know much more about Mary’s life. We don’t know how long she lived, when she died, or where she was buried. But we do know one thing. After Jesus came back to life, she and many of Jesus’ followers were gathered together to pray with hope. 

Why did they have hope? Because they had witnessed and experienced the great love of Jesus Christ, even in their hurt and suffering.

You know Staci, we often glamorize Mary’s life. But being the mother of Jesus was full of emotional pain and suffering. We easily forget how much she sacrificed to be the mother of the Savior. 

You and I will also have to endure suffering because of sin. Suffering, well it’s hard to talk about. To our human minds, it is really tricky to understand and make sense of. I’ve often heard people ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Staci: I hear people ask that all the time

Dannah: Yep. And the truth is that we live in a world with a whole lotta sin. We are reminded of this every time we hear the news. Maybe you hear about sickness or wars. Or perhaps you hear about natural disasters, like hurricanes, destroying people’s homes. Sometimes, the news is just full of people being hateful to each other, right? The list of sad situations goes on and on. Each and every one of these is evidence of sin and evil in our world.

But . . . God loved the world so much that He sent His Son Jesus to be born to Mary. And that act of love was the ultimate faithfulness.

God didn’t need Mary, but He lo-o-oved inviting her to be a part of HIStory. And the cool thing is, God wants to invite you into that same blessing as well, and to be loved by Him in whatever hardship you may be facing.

The Bible tells us over and over that God loves us. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 43:4, it says simply: “I love you.”

Even so, I discovered that this truth is hard for some girls to believe when they have done something bad, like disobeying their parents or cheating on a test. Sometimes their feelings tell them a lie about God’s love.

Staci: You mean lies like “God only loves me when I’m good,” or “If God loved me, I wouldn’t suffer.” Things like that?

Dannah: Yep. Those are the ones. I think most of us have believed lies like that at some point in our lives. And sin and evil make it difficult to feel God’s love even though it is still there. I mean, there’s a verse in Romans 5 that shows me, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (v. 8). 

Staci: God is not surprised by our sin at all!

Dannah: Nope, He sure isn’t. And when Jesus was on this earth, He told us that we’d have a lot of trouble on this planet. He knows everything! So, no matter what you’re going through right now, God loves you. Whatever painful thing you find yourself dealing with, remember to let God love and care for you as you go through it.

You know, that day not long ago when my dear Napoleon died, I was reminded again that all of the death and suffering in this world can be traced back to sin. I’m not mad about it because, as I said, it reminds me of our need for Jesus. But I was still sad.

I knew I needed to “stand” close to Jesus. But I had a very busy day. In fact, I told Farmer Bob, “I don’t even have time to cry today.” I decided to talk to Jesus all day long. Every now and then, I just prayed something like this: “Jesus, I’m very sad. I know you know that. Thank you for caring about the sparrows. The Bible says you do. You must care about peacocks, too. Please help me feel your nearness and to remember that you died on the cross to fix our broken world.” 

All day long, I felt Jesus’ love because I came near to Him. I sensed His nearness in my sadness.

You can know that, too!If you stand near Him—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Staci: What a beautiful truth

Dannah: So, let’s wrap up Mary’s story. Jesus died thirty-three years after He was born in Bethlehem. Mary was very old the day Jesus died. Some Bible scholars think she may have been about fifty, which was longer than most women lived back then. It is likely that her life was almost over, but we do not know. 

And Jesus? Well, I hope you know what I’m about to say next, Staci.

Staci: I sure do! He didn’t stay dead! Three days later, He rose from the grave and conquered death once and for all. 

Dannah: Amen! And after Jesus came back to life and returned to heaven, the Bible briefly mentions Mary one more time. She and many of Jesus’ followers were praying together in a tiny room. From this, we can see that she understood that Jesus was the Lamb of God. 

I believe Mary is now in heaven with Jesus, and she will never suffer again. That’s what happens to anyone who believes in Jesus and gives their heart and life to Him. Mary is not in heaven because she gave birth to Jesus or because she was perfect (she wasn’t), but she trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross as a payment for her sin. THAT is the most important lesson we can learn from Mary. Jesus was her faithful Savior. 

Staci: Whoa! I didn’t know I could learn so much from Mary’s story. I want to be a girl who’s faithful in whatever situation God guides me to, just like Mary. This has been an amazing trip!

Well, that last part wasn’t so great!

Dannah: No, the skunk part wasn’t great. See Staci, I told you camping wasn’t so bad. Plus, you cooked over an open fire, slept on a tree root, fell from a tree, AND got sprayed by a skunk, but still enjoyed it. I think you’ve earned your wilderness woman badge, my friend.

Staci: Well, thank you! You’ve been a great camping guide.

Dannah: Thank you! But we never got very far from the barn!

[Animal sounds]

Staci: I guess the rest of the animals missed Cassie.

Dannah: And she’s off! Let me go put her back in the pasture. Then, we’ll go in and start getting the tomato juice bath together.

Staci: What??! You said . . .!

Dannah: I know, just kidding.

Claire: What a powerful final lesson in “Becoming a Girl of Faithfulness.” True Girl, as we finish up this season of the True Girl podcast, can I pray for you to be faithful in whatever circumstances you’re in? 

Dear God, thank You for including parts of Mary’s story in the Bible so that we can learn how she was faithful to You. Thank You for helping her to live that way. And I pray that You would help the True Girl listening to this to be faithful to You, too. Whether she’s in a difficult time right now or a really great season—or maybe life is pretty mundane. I pray that she would say, “Yes, Lord,” to whatever You have for her.

And most of all, thank You that even when we’re not faithful, You are! You never leave us or forsake us, and that is such good news! May we never forget that.In Jesus’ name, amen.

Well, I hope you’ll be back for the next season. In the meantime, make sure you put the six faithfulness lessons into practice. 

And remember, you’re invited to join Dannah and Staci for our upcoming online Bible study. Sign up at MyTrueGirl.com. When you do, we’ll ship you a copy of Mary: Becoming a Girl of Faithfulness. Again, go to MyTrueGirl.com. 

Until next time, be faithful . . . and watch out for skunks!

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