With Ashley it had never been her poor choices as a young adult that made things hardest for all of them. It had been the way she cut herself off from the family, believing herself to be the black sheep.
That fire was a part of the process for anyone desiring a strong relationship with God.
Silence is the fading heartbeat of relationships.
He’s looking more for the broken people... people who need him.
Human suffering is too big to get our arms around.” His face had been earnest. “Don’t try to figure out what God’s teaching you by this, don’t try to understand it, and don’t try to understand God. If he could fit into your idea of him, he’d be too small for any of us.
All I want you to do today is run to Jesus. Being God, he alone fully understands both God and suffering.
We never own the people in our lives. We love them, yes, but they are on loan from God. We have them for a moment and then they’re gone. Go ahead and grieve, because you’ll miss Elizabeth. We all will. But while you’re grieving, don’t get mad at God for the minutes you’ll miss with Elizabeth. Thank him for the minutes you had.
God believes in you, even if you don’t believe in Him. He’ll keep calling to you the way He’s been calling to all of us since the beginning of time. Since Adam and Eve hid from Him in the garden.” She let her hand fall to her side. “One of these days, I know you’ll hear Him, and then you’ll understand. Without Him, nothing makes sense. Nothing at all.
God isn’t looking for us to be good or perfect. He’s just looking for us to be His.
Life is God’s gift to us. With every sweet breath, we confirm the fact that God has us here for a reason, that He has a plan for our lives. I truly believe that the more we surrender our lives to Him, the more we trust Him with the days He gives us, the better off we’ll be. There is such peaceful freedom, such uninhibited joy, in knowing that God Almighty is the reason we woke up today. If we have tomorrow, it’s because He has more for us to do.
God brings opportunities and people into the lives of believers. But it’s up to each one to pursue what God presents.
The Lord, Himself, goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Redemption isn’t redemption without the broken path that took a person there.
Fight it with everything you have. And when you don’t feel like fighting, lean on me and I’ll fight for you.
God’s will, he told her, is a little like taking a Sunday drive with God behind the wheel. God’s driving. He might turn or go through a valley that feels too dark, but you don’t have to worry about a thing, because you’re just the passenger. Whatever happens, God will get you home in the end as long as you let him drive.
Because everyone has a past. Everyone comes from some background. The place where God found them and picked them up and dusted them off. The day they first understood how loved they were.
I know the plans I have for you, my daughter. Plans to give you a hope and a future.
Because if I lean on Him, you can always lean on me.
Live life to the fullest, Jack. Jesus died so you could do that.” Beck’s kindness pierced straight through him. “Have you been living that way?
The devil doesn’t always look like a devil, she had said. Sometimes he masquerades as an angel of light.
My life isn’t guided by the stars, sir. It’s guided by the One who made them. And whatever happens from here, He’s got it perfectly in control.