What is your response when life doesn’t go as planned?
Do you doubt God’s love for you? Question your purpose? Struggle to find your identity, when what you thought would define your life no longer exists as a possibility?
On this episode of the More to Be Podcast, I’m joined by Sheridan Voysey, a writer, speaker, and broadcaster, for a deeply powerful discussion about what to do when life doesn’t go as planned. Sheridan, like many of us, experienced the dashing of dreams and hopes, both professionally and personally. He recounts how walking the road of faith while waiting on God for so many unanswered prayers shaped his identity and purpose. In his most recent book, The Making of Us: Who We Can Become When Life Doesn’t Go to Planned, as well as in our conversation, Sheridan invites us to step into his story about his struggle with infertility and becoming a childless family with his wife, Merryn. But this episode isn’t simply about their hopes and dreams rewritten — it’s about all of us and what to do when God’s ways don’t line up with our expectations.
There’s not a timeline for suffering. You don’t meet a quota and move on. – Elisa Pulliam
You’re not alone in your waiting. – Sheridan
Questioning God is natural and biblical. – Sheridan
We’re privy to the end of the story for everyone mentioned in Scripture, but we’re not privy in our stories. We have to walk by faith. – Elisa
Show me your work Lord, that I may join you in. – Henry Blackaby
Am I somehow sinning? Am I deeply flawed? Am I not being faithful enough? Is this the reason why God is not coming through? – Sheridan
You must walk forward, seek godly counsel, and if He remains silent, continue on. – Sheridan
Death was in work in us, but life was in work in you. – Sheridan (see verse)
Our identity is not in what we do, but in who we are — a friend of God. – Sheridan
Our core identity is in who we are as a child of God. That can never be taken away from us. – Elisa
How do I live as a child of God well? – Elisa
Be careful to not grab another role identity to quash the pain of the loss of an identity. – Elisa
We become what we worship. – Sheridan
Love God, Wash Feet – Elisa
Jesus suffered AND served. – Elisa
Meet Our Guest
Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker, and broadcaster. He is the author of seven books including The Making of Us: Who We Can Become When Life Doesn’t Go to Planned, Resurrection Year and Resilient, and he is featured writer for the globally popular devotional Our Daily Bread. Sheridan is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2 and other international networks, and has featured on BBC Breakfast, BBC News, CBC’s Tapestry, Moody Radio, American Radio Network, Discover the Word, Day of Discovery, and 100 Huntley Street. He is married to Merryn and lives and travels from Oxford, United Kingdom.
Connect with Sheridan Voysey at sheridanvoysey.com.
Scripture Focus
- 2 Corinthians 4
- Ephesians 5
Continue to Grow
- The Making of Us: Who We Can Become When Life Doesn’t Go to Planned
- Life Coach Training
- Equine-Assisted Coaching
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