What if the interruptions in your life are actually part of God’s plan? When illness, grief, caregiving, or unexpected changes derail what you thought God was calling you to do, it can be difficult to understand what He is doing.
Lisa M. Hendey, founder of CatholicMom.com and author of The Grace of Yes, discovered that discernment sometimes means letting go of your own agenda, focusing on what God is asking of you today, and remaining interested in something new when unexpected doors begin to open.
In this conversation with Terry Modica, Lisa shares how cancer, grief, changes in ministry, and years of waiting unexpectedly shaped her calling. She explains how Scripture, prayer, journaling, and intercession help her recognize God’s direction — and how suffering can deepen our ability to minister with empathy and compassion.
If you’re in a season where God’s plan seems confusing, delayed, or completely different from what you expected, this episode will encourage you to trust Him on the winding road.
Are you wondering?
- How can I know what God’s will is for my life when I’m going through a difficult season?
- How do I discern whether God is calling me to continue or let go of a ministry?
- What should I do when illness or health problems interfere with what I believe God is calling me to do?
- How can prayer and Scripture help me discern God’s will?
- How do I know if an unexpected opportunity is something God is leading me toward?
- What can I learn spiritually when God’s plan for my life takes an unexpected or winding path?
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How do I surrender my plans to God when I’m afraid of what might happen next?
KEY TAKEAWAY: Discerning God’s will often means focusing on what He is asking of you today, staying rooted in prayer and Scripture, and watching for unexpected doors that He opens on your journey.
📚 Visit Lisa M. Hendey’s website: lisahendey.com
Connect with her @lisahendey on Substack and social media.
Chapters:
02:05 How God’s Will Shapes a Calling
03:22 Discerning God’s Will Through Health Challenges
05:32 Asking: What Is God’s Will Right Now?
09:29 How Suffering Changes the Way We Minister
13:06 Letting Go When God Opens a New Door
15:33 From Catholic Mom to Chime Travelers
16:13 Trusting God on the Winding Road
18:16 Prayer Practices for Discerning God’s Will
29:03 Practical Advice for Knowing God’s Will
30:43 The Eucharist, Saints & Finding Your Purpose
32:33 Walking the Journey With Others
Excerpt:
Terry: Before we get into how you ended up writing these children’s books, how did you know what was God’s will? Where did discernment about God’s will help you on your health journey?” Because, I’m sure there are a lot of listeners who have that need.
Lisa: I have to flash back a little bit to when I was writing my very first book, all the way back in 2009. I was diagnosed with form of breast cancer back then. And at the time, I was kind of thrown for a loop, [I was] 45 at the time.
And really, that wasn’t on my agenda for that moment in time. But I was able to kind of persist through that journey, get that book written, and launch a new part of my ministry that was totally new to me. Writing a book was not something that I’d ever dreamed that I would get to do.
And then, if you fast forward to 2023, again, kind of coming through the pandemic, having just cared for my aging parents and seeing them off on their way to heaven, I thought, “This is great. Reschedule all the speaking engagements that were canceled for the last few years due to everything that was going on outside of my control.”
And then, I landed up with a new, different cancer diagnosis. So, I’m three years out from that. At the time that it happened, I really was pretty serious at stage three. And while I knew that I’d have excellent treatment and a great prognosis, it kind of makes you think at a certain age.
I’m now 63, so I was 60 when that happened.
I kind of asked myself a little bit: “Is this God’s gentle way of telling me time to take to the rocking chair? Maybe my work is not what I thought it needed to be. And, what’s going to really happen? Because when you have to cancel things, especially when people are counting on you, that’s not the best thing in the world.
So, I really prayed about, at that point, focusing on my health journey, focusing on healing — both healing physically, but also spiritually and mentally from everything that I’d been through in the years before that. And then, just really being open: “So, what is God’s will right now?”
And if God’s will is that what I focus on now is my health, my family, and my personal faith journey, that’s amazing. But if God opens doors, I’m going to try to boldly and unafraidly walk through those. And surprisingly, that’s really what’s happened in the last few years.
I’d say some of my most amazing opportunities have come since then, and they’ve been such a wonderful surprise.
Terry: Yeah, I can resonate with that because it’s real difficult to figure out what the Lord is doing when a health crisis interferes with what we thought He was calling us to do. And so, for example, myself: Over the past couple of years, I’ve had a couple of surgeries in my back. Last year, I had a hip replacement, and it’s been a long, you know. I was exhausted from it all.
I also was still grieving the loss of my husband, and I just did not have the energy or the inspiration to do my ministry, to write or to do podcasts. I mean, I wanted to get this Footsteps to Heaven podcast show going again after there was a hiatus because I was taking care of my mother in my own home, and then she moved to independent living. She is now in an ALF where they take really good care of her.
I was uncertain as to how I would ever get back to doing the podcast shows. I felt a calling to it, but I just couldn’t sit in the chair because of my hip. You know, it was a long period of time between starting the pain and finally getting the right diagnosis and getting the surgery scheduled.
It was done last December, which was right in Christmas season, and I’m going: “Somehow, God, this is Your timing, and it’s always perfect.” But, it really put a damper on my Christmas celebrating. And all of that just makes you wonder: Does God really want me to suffer like this? It occurred to me that the devil was the one giving me these problems, these health problems, because it was keeping me from my ministry.
But I went through a fairly lengthy discernment process where I assumed that God, first of all, He allowed — even if it was the devil getting involved — He allowed it for a reason. Then I went from there to assuming that God is in charge of the timing, and therefore, He really wants me to focus on my health. I really can’t do anything else.
I did some minimal work, but I did retire last year and give it over to someone else who’s doing an excellent job running this ministry. It’s just something that is so confusing to say: “God, You gave me this ministry to do. Why are You allowing this illness?”
Do you have any thoughts to add to that?
Lisa: Yeah, I just say that for me, one of the things that I’ve really discerned in all of this is that I have this great opportunity to go out and to meet with people right where they are, whether that’s through my writing or through speaking, offering retreats. And most of the people that we go out to serve have real world problems. They have unemployment, they have health issues, they have aging parents, they have kids that they’re responsible for who go off the reservation sometimes.
There’s all kinds of things that can happen to people. And I really think that one of the greatest fruits of this time for me personally with my health journey is that it’s made me better able to understand some of the people that I’m called to serve and to meet them in their hardship.
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This episode is a companion to Terry Modica’s workbook “Knowing God’s Will and Doing It Well“.
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