This paralysis is my greatest mercy.7.
God is more concerned with conforming me to the likeness of His Son than leaving me in my comfort zones. God is more interested in inward qualities than outward circumstances – things like refining my faith, humbling my heart, cleaning up my thought life and strengthening my character.
Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God’s motives, but in understanding His character, in trusting in His promises, and in leaning on Him and resting in Him as the Sovereign who knows what He is doing and does all things well.
The weaker we feel, the harder we lean on God. And the harder we lean the stronger we grow.
Nothing is a surprise to God; nothing is a setback to His plans; nothing can thwart His purposes; and nothing is beyond His control.
Whether you send an e-mail, tell your spouse in person, write a letter, talk over the phone, or write a quick note, remember that what you say today has the capacity to transform the countenance and the character of the most important person in your life, your spouse.
Faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.
Heartache forces us to embrace God out of desparate, urgent need. God is never closer than when your heart is aching.
God doesn’t just give us grace; He gives us Jesus, the Lord of grace.
The Psalms wrap nouns and verbs around our pain better than any other book.
God always seems bigger to those who need him most. And suffering is the tool he uses to help us need him more.
My longings are best met when, in prayer, I simply let my heart beat in time with the Lord’s.
It is a glorious thing to know that your Father God makes no mistakes in directing or permitting that which crosses the path of your life. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. It is our glory to trust Him, no matter what.
Like all good citizens, the elderly and people with disabilities want to eradicate waste and fraud from government, but helping people with special needs meet their basic needs doesn’t fit this description.
The Christian faith is meant to be lived moment by moment. It isn’t some broad, general outline – it’s a long walk with a real Person. Details count: passing thoughts, small sacrifices, a few encouraging words, little acts of kindness, brief victories over nagging sins.
I want to stay in the habit of ‘glancing’ at my problems and ‘gazing’ at my Lord.
He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.
When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus.
Most of the verses written about praise in God’s Word were voiced by people who were faced with crushing heartaches, injustice, treachery, slander, and scores of other difficult situations.
Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God’s strength in you.