Saying “I’m fine” to keep the peace, when we’re really not fine, isn’t honest. It may seem godly in the moment, but it’s false godliness. Truth and godliness always walk hand in hand. The minute we divorce one from the other, we stray from soul integrity and give a foothold to the instability that inevitably leads to coming unglued.
My heart struggles to make peace between God’s ability to change hard things and His apparent decision not to change them for me.
Don’t get so consumed by and focused on the mess – the feelings of rejection, hurt, and disillusionment – that you miss the miracle.
Replace the negative talk that will hinder you. Replace it with praises for God, who will deliver you.
No, it’s not wrong to need people. But some of our biggest disappointments in life are the result of expectations we have of others that they can’t ever possibly meet. That’s when the desire to connect becomes an unrealistic need. Unrealistic neediness is actually greediness in disguise.
To trust God is to trust His timing. To trust God is to trust His way. God loves me too much to answer my prayers at any other time than the right time and in any other way than the right way. In the quietness of all that doesn’t feel right, this truth does.
As Ravi Zacharias said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.
On the other side of every hardship is a resurrection.
I can’t control the things that happen to me each day, but I can control how I think about them. I can say to myself, “I have a choice to have destructive thoughts or constructive thoughts right now. I can wallow in what’s wrong and make things worse, or I can ask God for a better perspective to help me see good even when I don’t feel good.” Indeed, when we gain new perspectives, we can see new ways of thinking.
Remember: The pain isn’t the enemy. Pain is the indicator that brokenness exists. Pain is the reminder that the real enemy is trying to take us out and bring us down by keeping us stuck in broken places. Pain is the gift that motivates us to fight with brave tenacity and fierce determination knowing there’s healing on the other side.
When my brain begs me to doubt God, as it most certainly does, I find relief for my unbelief by laying down my human assessments and assumptions; I turn from the Tree of Knowledge and fix my gaze on the Tree of Life.
We won’t develop new responses until we develop new thoughts. That’s why renewing our minds with new thoughts is crucial.
If they make the choice to walk over me rather than walk with me, I’ll have to love them from afar.
We must respect ourselves enough to break the pattern of placing unrealistic expectations on others.
When sin entered the world, it broke the goodness of God’s design. And sin absolutely breaks God’s heart. But in no way did sin affect the goodness of God. He has a plan, a good plan to rid this world of every effect of sin.
If we live rooted and established in His love, we don’t just have knowledge of His love in our minds, but it becomes a reality that anchors us.
In the meantime, we must hold fast to the truth of who God is and His unchanging nature: God is good. His plans are good. His requirements are good. His salvation is good. His grace is good. His forgiveness is good. His restoration is good.
When the world beats you down, open up your Bible.
Yes, I want to lose weight. But this journey is so much more than just that. It really is about learning to tell myself no and learning to make wiser choices daily. And somehow becoming a woman of self-discipline honors God and helps me live the godly characteristic of self-control.
The exhausting manipulation and control it takes to protect an identity based on circumstances will crush our hearts and hide the best of who we are behind a wall of insecurity.