When something painful happens, it is easy to wonder: Did I do something wrong? Is God punishing me?

Bobby McGraw sits down with Suzanne Nadell to explore that question through her story of two cancer diagnoses, years of uncertainty, and a faith that changed along the way.

Suzanne talks honestly about being angry with God, powering through pain, and learning to slow down and process what was happening. She reflects on how suffering clarified her purpose and taught her to receive help from others.

For anyone facing a diagnosis, disappointment, or season that feels unfair, this conversation is a reminder that hardship is not proof that God has abandoned you.

• A painful season is not proof that God is punishing you.
• You can be angry or confused with God and still turn toward Him.
• God can bring good from painful circumstances without pretending the pain itself is good.
• Sometimes healing means slowing down instead of outrunning what hurts.
• Other people matter in hard seasons. Let them help carry the weight.

00:00 - Welcome to Suzanne Nadell
03:43 - Growing Up With Faith That Felt Like Rules
06:51 - Finding a Faith of Her Own
08:03 - Suzanne’s First Cancer Diagnosis
10:25 - Facing Cancer as a Young Mom
12:34 - What Cancer Did to Her Faith
14:52 - A Second Cancer Diagnosis
16:20 - When Suzanne Got Angry With God
18:24 - What She Did With the Anger
21:02 - The Moment She Finally Stopped and Felt It
24:23 - Is God Punishing Me?
26:14 - What Romans 8:28 Meant to Suzanne
28:23 - How Suffering Changed Her Faith
30:14 - Following the Nudges She Had Ignored
32:04 - Why God’s Timing Can Feel So Slow
34:31 - What to Do in the Middle of a Diagnosis
37:22 - Letting Other People Show Up
40:09 - How Suzanne’s Calling Became Clearer
42:25 - She Leads Church and Finding Your People
44:12 - Remember That You Are Loved

• Wired to Lead - Suzanne’s book about leadership lessons from the newsroom and leading in the church: https://www.amazon.com/Wired-Lead-Being-Leader-Church/dp/0827243464
• SuzanneNadell.com - Suzanne’s book, speaking, and current work: http://SuzanneNadell.com
• Called To All of It - A program for women navigating faith, family, and career: https://suzannenadell.com/called-to-all-of-it-1
• She Leads Church - A community and conference for Christian women in leadership: https://www.sheleadschurch.com/
• CaringBridge - The online journal Suzanne used during her cancer experiences: https://www.caringbridge.org/
• Rooted - A church program Suzanne participated in around her second diagnosis.
• Romans 8:28 - A passage central to how Suzanne understood God working through the good and painful parts of her story.

Follow You Asked, Let's Talk and share it with someone going through something hard and wondering where God is in the middle of it.

What does God want me to do with my life, especially when the path I’m on no longer feels right? Bobby McGraw sits down with Dr. Jennifer Keitt to talk about success, purpose, waiting, emotions, and recognizing God’s direction when life stops making sense.

At 27, Jennifer had checked every box but still found herself deeply dissatisfied. What followed was her “summer of chaos,” a season that changed the direction of her life.

She shares how waiting, trial and error, Scripture, relationships, and even disorientation helped shape her next steps. For anyone wondering whether they are behind, missing God, or simply unsure what to do next, this conversation offers a different way to think about finding purpose.

• Success does not automatically mean you are living the life you were made for.
• Feeling disoriented can be an invitation to pay attention to what is happening beneath the surface.
• Hearing God can look like Scripture, wise questions, trial and error, peace, and taking the next step.
• Purpose usually unfolds over time rather than arriving as a complete roadmap.
• Your emotions can provide important clues as you discern what is happening in your life.

00:00 - Welcome to Dr. Jennifer Keitt
00:49 - When Success Still Feels Empty
03:06 - A New Faith in a Confusing Season
05:26 - The Summer of Chaos
07:17 - When Aloneness Becomes an Invitation
08:28 - Finding a Different Path
10:22 - What Does It Mean to Hear God?
12:11 - Abraham, Transition, and Learning to Go
15:21 - What Abraham Teaches Us About Waiting
16:08 - Why Time Is Not the Enemy
19:16 - How Jennifer’s Purpose Kept Expanding
23:18 - Why Bigger Audiences Did Not Grow Her Faith
24:33 - When Success Feels Empty Again
26:19 - When God’s Math Does Not Make Sense
28:39 - What Emerging Adults Are Asking
32:46 - Learning to Lead Yourself First
36:25 - What to Do When You Do Not Know Your Next Step
39:38 - God, Emotions, and Paying Attention
41:11 - What Jennifer Wishes She Knew at 27
42:31 - Learning to Wait for Something New
44:50 - Where to Connect With Jennifer
47:57 - A Final Word for the Journey

• Keitt Institute - Jennifer’s work in self-awareness, leadership, emotional health, and personal development: keittinstitute.org
• JenniferKeitt.com - Jennifer’s personal website.
• Jolt Academy - A Keitt Institute program focused on personal development and understanding how you think, respond, and lead.
• The Codex - Jennifer’s “spiritual operating system” for understanding how people connect with God and grow spiritually.
• Genesis 12 - Abraham’s story of leaving what was familiar and following God without knowing the full destination.
• Isaiah - Jennifer references God doing a “new thing” as she discusses her current season of waiting.

Listen to the full episode of You Asked, Let’s Talk, follow the podcast, and share it with someone wondering what God wants them to do next.

Why does God seem angry, violent, or even mean in parts of the Old Testament while Jesus seems so loving?

Bobby McGraw sits down with Old Testament scholar and Oklahoma Baptist University president Heath Thomas to wrestle honestly with that question.

Heath argues that we often begin the biblical story in the wrong place. Before God is described as judge, He is revealed as the Creator and giver of life. From there, the Old Testament tells a larger story of rescue, blessing, discipline, and restoration.

Along the way, Heath explores difficult questions about war, judgment, poetry, doubt, and why following Jesus does not mean having every answer. Sometimes, he says, Jesus is less a simple answer and more the clue we keep following.

Key Takeaways

• The Old Testament begins with God as Creator and giver of life, not as an angry judge.
• God’s relationship with Israel is part of a larger rescue story meant to bring blessing to the world.
• Difficult passages about war and judgment make more sense within the Bible’s larger story.
• Faith does not require an answer to every question. Sometimes “I don’t know” is an honest place to begin.
• Much of the Old Testament is poetry, meant to shape how we see reality rather than simply give us information.

Chapter Markers

00:00 - Welcome to Heath Thomas
02:01 - All of Life, All for Jesus
04:03 - From Rules to Relationship
08:39 - Jesus Is the Clue
10:22 - What Does a Relationship With God Look Like?
14:13 - Personality and the Way We Experience God
16:36 - How Heath Became an Old Testament Scholar
19:20 - Why Does God Seem Angry in the Old Testament?
21:49 - Israel and God’s Rescue Mission
25:18 - A Kingdom of Priests and a Blessing to the World
27:36 - What About War in the Old Testament?
30:25 - Starting the Story With the God of Life
33:03 - Why Did God Allow Us to Sin?
36:10 - Faith When You Do Not Have the Answer
39:03 - Why, How Long, and the Presence of God
41:24 - Are We Reading the Old Testament Wrong?
42:52 - Why So Much of the Old Testament Is Poetry
47:42 - Where to Start Exploring the Old Testament
48:21 - Where to Connect With Heath

Links and Mentions

• The 30-Minute Bible - An accessible introduction to the larger story of Scripture.
• Reading the Old Testament as Christian Scripture - Heath’s book on the Old Testament, God’s character, and its connection to the New Testament.
• Oklahoma Baptist University - Heath serves as president.
• Abraham Kuyper - Dutch theologian referenced in the discussion of Christ’s lordship over every area of life.

Listen to the full episode of You Asked, Let’s Talk, follow the podcast, and share this conversation with someone who has wrestled with the God of the Old Testament or wondered whether difficult Bible passages can still be trusted.