Submission to God's Will

In his A Faithful Narrative of Surprising Conversions, Jonathan Edwards tells of a young woman who was converted after having lived a riotous life. But soon after her conversion she was beset by severe physical trials that ended in a slow, painful death. As she faced the dark, fearful unknown her faith was strengthened by the Lord to the point of joy and exultation. Edwards writes:

"She had great longings to die, that she might be with Christ; which increased till she thought she did not know how to be patient and wait till God's time should come . . . 'I am quite willing to live, and quite willing to die; quite willing to be sick, and quite willing to be well; and quite willing for anything that God will bring upon me! And then,' said she, 'I felt myself perfectly easy, in a full submission to the will of God' . . . The same week that she died, when she was in distressing circumstances as to her body, some of the neighbors who came to see her, asked is she was willing to die? She replied, that she was quite willing either to live or die; she was willing to be in pain; she was willing to be so always as she was then, if that was the will of God. She willed what God willed. They asked her whether she was willing to die that night? She answered, 'Yes, if it be God's will.' And seemed to speak all with that perfect composure of spirit, and with such a cheerful countenance, that it filled them with admiration."