God's Word on That

Tag: bible

  • Our God, Our Maker

    The Lord said to Samuel: “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.  For the Lord does not see as man sees; for a man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”   (1 Samuel 16:6-7)

    In all His vastness, God cares for us individually.

    What is man that You care for him?  The son of man that You think of him?  Man is like a breath, his days are like a fleeting shadow (Psalm 144:3-4).

    The rich and poor have this in common: the Lord is maker of them all (Proverbs 22:2).

    For there is no partiality with God (Romans 2:11).

    It is not enough to believe God once showed mercy to Abraham, David, or Noah.  It is an attribute of God to be merciful, not a temporary mood.  We must believe God’s mercy is boundless, free and available to us (through Christ Jesus) in our present situation, or we might as well not even pray.

    I know that You can do everything, and no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You (Job 42:2-3).

    How awesome are Your works!  Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works on man’s behalf (Psalm 66:3, 5).

    The enemy emphasizes the past with its mistakes and heartaches.  The Comforter exalts the present.  God is a “now” God.

    Who is a God like You?  Who pardons sin and forgives transgressions of the remnant of His inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:18-19).

    You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them (Nehemiah 9:17).

    I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for Me?   (Jeremiah 32:27)

    God owes no one anything.  No reasons, no explanations, nothing.  And if He gave them, we couldn’t understand them anyway.  Just trust He is fashioning your life for the better!

    I lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).

    His ways are eternal (Habakkuk 3:6).

    I, even I am He who comforts you.  Who are you that you fear mortal man?  The sons of men who are but grass?  That you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth?  That you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor/devil, who is bent only on destruction? ( Isaiah 51:12-13)

    You feel unsafe; you are frightened and fear limits the joy you experience in your life.  What are you afraid of?  Pain?  Rejection?  Dying?  Did you know that I am at peace always?  Did you know My Spirit – the same Spirit that is in Me – is in you?  I have built a wall of protection around you so the invisible dragon of the night will not harm you.  I save you from the dangers of the daytime.  I am for you!  Who can be against you and win?  But you worry because of past experiences.  I care for you!  I’ve even numbered every hair on your head.

  • Our Awesome God

    The planets move in split-second precision.  There is no guesswork in the galaxies.  We see in nature that everything is part of a plan: harmonious, orderly, obedient…   Could a God who make the physical universe be any less exacting in the higher spiritual and moral order?

    Everywhere we look, we can see God’s marvelous works.

    That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God, there is no other (1 Kings 8:60).

    Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; let not the mighty man glory in his might; nor let the rich man glory in his riches.  But let anyone who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these I delight,” says the Lord (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

    And He passed in front of Moses proclaiming: The Lord, the Lord God.  The compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin; yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished… (Exodus 34:6-7)

    The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.  Holy and awesome is His name!    (Psalm 111:4, 9)

    “I owe no one anything,” God declares.  “Everything is Mine.”  God owes no explanations, excuses, help, favor, or debt.  But He still gives.

    Does He who implanted the ear not hear?  Does He who formed the eye not see?  Does He who disciplines nations not punish?  Does He who teaches man lack knowledge?    (Psalm 94:9-10)

    The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.  The Lord is good to all, He has compassion on all He has made (Psalm 145:8-9).

    Grace = God’s work.  His idea.  His expense.  His discretion.

    Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.  For He spoke and it was done!  He commanded and it stood fast!    (Psalm 33:8-9)

    … You alone are God (Psalm 86:10).

    If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine and all that is in it.  Do I eat the flesh of bulls?  Or drink the blood of goats?  Sacrifice thank offerings to your God (Psalm 50:12-14).

    For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men (Lamentations 3:33).

    “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die,” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23)

    God is God.  God knows what He is doing.  When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.     (Max Lucado)

  • Dealing With Ourselves

    We are not invulnerable to the devil – he is wise, he is crafty.  Guard your heart!  Do not flirt with trials.  Have confidence that God gives us a spirit of self-discipline to handle the temptation that we struggle with most in our life.  Father, please use Your power to block the paths of evil this day and every day.  Amen.

    Let us reflect on our ways to understand our sufferings.

    And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).

    Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think.  Then you will learn from your own experience how His ways will really satisfy you.  (Romans 12:2 the Living Bible Translation)

    We would like to be consumed all at once by the flames of pure love, but such an end would scarcely cost us anything.  It is only an excessive self-love that desires to become perfect in a moment and at so cheap a rate.  (Fenelon)

    These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom – in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body.  But [actually] are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:23).

    The Ten Commandments were given for us to enjoy life better, not to make it worse.

    But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life…  (Roman 5:20-21)

    The Ten Commandments were given so that all could see the extent of their failure to obey God’s laws.  But the more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God’s abounding grace forgiving us.  Before, sin ruled over all men and brought them to death, but now God’s kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  (Romans 5:20-21 the Living Bible Translation)

    Abounding sin is the terror of the world, but abounding grace is the hope of mankind.  However sin may abound, it still has its limits, for it is the product of finite minds.  But God’s “much more” introduces us to infinitude!  Against our deep creature-sickness stands God’s infinite ability to care!

    Who can discern his errors?  Forgive my hidden faults.  Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.  Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression (Psalm 19:12-13).

    Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked way in me.  Lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).

    Through the grace that I have been given I say this to every one of you: never pride yourself on being better than you really are, but think of yourself dispassionately, recognizing that God has given to each one His measure of faith (Romans 12:3).

    Self-pity is of the devil and if I wallow in it, I cannot be used by God for His purposes.  When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrances.  Have faith in Him and His goodness!

    Tears shed for self are tears of weakness.  Tears of love shed for others are signs of strength.

    Discouragement is not the fruit of humility but of pride.  All our falls are useful if they strip us of a disastrous confidence in ourselves, while they do not take away a humble and saving trust in God.

    I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:18).

    Don’t be ashamed of yourself; Jesus paid a high price for you.

    Do you know where to find rest?  Where you find a clean conscience?  Where you find the ability to sleep at night and live with yourself?  By living in the pleasure of the Father who made you.

    Words of encouragement: God forgives first, then forgets.

  • Suffering’s Dealing With Us

    In this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith – which is of greater worth than gold, which itself perishes even though it be refined by fire – may be proven genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:6-7).

    With God as our Rock of refuge and strength, our enemies cannot harm us.

    If we can see an enemy as someone who is an unwilling instrument of our blessings, it is easier to be forgiving and loving…  We must discover that our enemies can never really harm us.

    Don’t give up when you think God has abandoned you.                                      Pray He gives you patience to see the situation through.                     Then thank Him in advance for what He is about to do.

    He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit; and I will live to enjoy the light.  God does all these things to a man – twice, even three times – to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him (Job 33:28-30).

    Isn’t it strange that beggars and kings

    and clowns that caper in sawdust rings

    And common folk like you and me

    are builders of eternity?

    To each is given a bag of tools,

    a shapeless mass and a book of rules,

    And each must fashion ‘ere life has flown

    a stumbling block or a stepping stone.

    Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are renewed every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

    Struggling with life’s difficulties makes us a little wiser, a little more capable, enabling us to comfort others who experience pain.  Difficulties are short lived; rewards are eternal.

    The grass is not usually greener on the other side.  There are just things on the other side you don’t see from your side.  If you were where that other person is, you probably wouldn’t be happy on that side either.

    Who is causing our troubles (if not our own sin) is not easy to determine.  We don’t want to rebuke the devil for something God is behind, but don’t want to bear it if there is something we can do to end it either.  Still, the response to adversity is far more important than the source of it.  No matter where it comes from, God uses it to deepen faith.  Our response to adversity determines if God can use it to accomplish His purposes.

    Give ear and come to Me; hear Me, that your soul may live (Isaiah 55:3).

    Look to my right and see, no one is concerned for me.  I have no refuge, no one who cares for my life. [Only You]  (Psalm 142:4)

    When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant.  I was a brute beast before You (Psalm 73:21-22).

    Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your Word… It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees (Psalm 119:67, 71).

    When God comforts you, you have cause to fear that you might care more for His gifts than for Himself.  But when He deals roughly with you and you hold on fast, it is to Him alone that you cling!          

  • Sufferings Dealing With Man

    How often we provoke Him in our wildernesses and grieve Him in our desert wanderings!

    Be careful in dealing with other people. Predators are abundant.

    It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man (Psalm 118:8)

    Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless (Psalm 60:11).

    Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless (Psalm 108:12).

    Resentment = when you allow your heart to turn into hate.  Hate, simmering in your heart, only causes bitterness and you alone suffer it.  Forget the hurt!  There is no other emotion that imprisons the soul like the unwillingness to forgive.

    For if anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives [only] himself (Galatians 6:3).

    Profoundly take note: the humble seem to always be at peace.  The proud are most often envious and angry.

    Anger is the cancer of the spirit.  Anger doesn’t do any good.  It only feeds a primitive lust for revenge, which feeds our anger… [see how the cycle begins!]

    A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; for if you rescue him, you will have to do it again [and again].    (Proverbs 19:19)

    Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.  A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15).

    For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have… pierced themselves with many sorrows  (1 Timothy 6:10).

    Blind ambition is one giant step away from God and closer to catastrophe.

    Turn my eyes away from worthless things…   (Psalm 119:37)

    Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil (Psalm 141:4).

    There is no gift that, after having been a help, will not become a snare and a hindrance to the soul that rests in it.  So God often takes away what He has given.  (Fenelon)

    People are a source of joy, not a source of stress.  God sees each one of us as having value, so do not judge!

    A pearl lost in the mud is not less valuable.  A pearl coated with balm is not more valuable.  We have our value from our Father, and how and where we live cannot change that.   (Sayings of Yeshua)

    For the real riches, try switching kingdoms.

    Consider carefully how you listen.  Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he [thinks he] has will be taken from him!  (Luke 8:18)

  • For Man’s Part…

    God’s commandments were given to protect and promote man’s happiness, not to restrict it.  God wants the best for us.  He has laid down spiritual laws which, if obeyed, bring harmony and fulfillment.  But if disobeyed, bring discord and disorder.

    There is not a righteous man on earth who [always] does what is right and never sins (Ecclesiastes 7:20).

    For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

    For they loved praise from men more than praise from God (John 12:43).

    The world is evil, the times are waxing late, and the glory of God has departed from the church as the fiery cloud once lifted from the Temple in the sight of Ezekiel… This God of our fathers wants to be the God of those fathers’ succeeding race.  We have only to prepare Him a habitation in love and faith and humility.  We have but to want Him badly enough, and He will come and manifest Himself to us.

    Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:40).

    These six things does the Lord hate; no, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he who sows discord among brothers (Proverbs 6:16-19).

    We live in an age which everything is working against the things we hold dear…  In this evil day we need constant reminders of the truth.  If we are not careful with our time, we will allow others to fill it up for us, and there will be none left for God.

    For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father, but is of the world (1 John 2:16).

    You say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked (Revelation 3:17).

    Do you love life?  Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.   (Ben Franklin)

    Don’t look down to see anyone, unless you are glancing down in order to help them to their feet again.

    Do not be deceived, God is not mocked.  For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).

    Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good habits (1 Corinthians 15:33).

    Stubbornness is an iniquity, and is idolatry in hiding.

    Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account (Hebrews 4:13).

    For if your heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things [so don’t think you’ll get by Him]  (1 John 3:20).

    If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.  [He will stand by us.]  (1 John 3:21)

  • There Is a Purpose For Pain

    Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of the rebel heart.  How unfinished and rebellious and proud and unconcerned we would be without suffering changing us!  So simply say, “Thank you, Lord, for this test” for it WILL strengthen you.

    Fact: God does indeed comfort good people when bad things happen to them.  Trouble never leaves us where it finds us; sorrow will always change our tomorrow.  God inspires us to become better, not bitter.

    Pain is inevitable but misery is optional.

    Christian life is not deliverance FROM trouble, but deliverance IN trouble.  God gives us life as we overcome, not an overcoming life.  Only when you spend yourself will you strengthen yourself.

    Sacrifice is the currency of God’s kingdom.                                                          

    Thank God for your adversity.  If it is from the devil, he will stop since God is getting the credit for it.  If it is from God, then at least your gratitude is getting to the right place.

    I think sometimes it takes a life-changing event to make us really see the way we’re living based on the choices we’ve made.  (Jana DeLeon)

    It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.     (Dick Cavett)

    Sleep, riches and health – to be enjoyed fully – must be interrupted.   (J. P. Richter)

    It is unkind to attribute every sorrow to God’s punishment; suffering can be used to glorify God.

    Neither this man nor his parents sinned – but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life (John 9:3).

    God’s economy is upside down from the world’s economy.  God says: the more hopeless your circumstances, the more likely your salvation; the greater your cares, the more genuine your prayers; the darker the room, the more need for light.

    We are better able to appreciate blessing if we endure hardships.

    Our target is to glorify our Lord Jesus.  Tears sometimes blur our vision, but we must remember our position in Christ and continue on.

    Helping others in distress begins when we share their pain.  [Trust comes when we share our pain.]

    Sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load.

    The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will by no means clear the guilty.  The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3).

    “Clouds are the dust of His feet.”  Clouds are a sign that God is there…  Sorrow, bereavement, and suffering are therefore actually the clouds that come along with God, because God is always with us.

  • God’s Word For Handling Loss

    The Holy Spirit brings me into oneness with God entirely – when once I am willing to waive my right to myself and let Him have His way.  No man gets there without a crisis, a crisis of a terrific nature in which he goes to the death of something.  God is never far away from His saints to think ‘about’ them; He ‘thinks’ them.  We are taken up into His consciousness…  How we get there we cannot say, but it is by the process of God’s training of us.  God won’t leave us alone…    (Oswald Chambers)

    The future may look dark and foreboding, but God will see you through.

    “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in your weakness”…  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities … pains … distresses; for Christ’s sake.  For when I am weak, then [we are] strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

    Wealth, health, and happiness are gifts from God but they are not the only way He demonstrates His love.  Sometimes He allows these things to be taken away and allows us to undergo suffering so He can help us grow in wisdom.  If you have been going through sorrow and trials, ask the Lord to show His mercy and compassion toward you, and bring a result of wisdom and righteousness in your life.

    I will not die but live!  And I will proclaim what the Lord has done (Psalm 118:13).

    Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised  (James 1:12).

    Whether the illness is physical, emotional or spiritual, a person should first seek healing from Jehovah-Rapha…  Second, explore whether sin is the cause of the problem.  Sin effects our spirit, and the spirit can cause sickness of our emotions and our bodies.  Yet sin may not always be the cause of the problem.  In fact, personal sin may not even be a contributing factor.  However, we should still pray: “Search me, O God…”  It is wise to have God search our hearts. (Kay Author)

    When times are good, be happy.  But when times are bad consider: God has made the one as well as the other (Ecclesiastes 7:14).

    We should love, but we should love with the love that expects death and that reckons upon separation.  Our dear relations are but loaned to us, and the hour when we must return them to the Lender’s hand may be even at the door.  The like is certainly true of our worldly goods.  That thought may stay us from taking too deep a root in the thin soil from which we are so soon to be transplanted into the heavenly garden.  Let us recollect the frail tenure upon which we hold our temporal mercies.  If we would remember that all the trees of earth are marked for the woodsman’s axe, we should not be so ready to build our nests in them.  Frail flowers of the field, we must not reckon upon blooming forever.  There is a time for every purpose, including weakness and sickness.

    There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

    You may have lost a loved one.  God will make it up to you – if you place your trust in Him and refuse to try and collect what you feel is owed to you by yourself.  [Look at Joseph and Job.]    (Joyce Meyers)

    We often gain by our losses.  The one who has suffered no loss is still a shallow person.

    God is not concerned about our plans.  He doesn’t ask, “Do you want to go through this loss?”  He allows these things for His own purposes.  The things we go through are either making us sweeter, better, nobler people, or they are making us more critical and fault finding.  (Oswald Chambers)

    The sick person who cannot sleep thinks the night is endless, yet it is no longer than any other night.  In our cowardice we exaggerate all we suffer.  Our pain may be severe but we make it worse by shrinking under it.  The real way to get relief is to accept suffering because God sends it [or at the least uses it] to purify us.   (Fenelon)

  • God’s Word On Suffering

    Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upwards (Job 5:7).

    Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted.  But, before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives.  This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges.  God brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him, and we begin to debate [whether we should or should not, whether it is convenient or not]. He then providentially produces a crisis where we HAVE to decide – follow or not follow.  That moment then becomes a great crossroads in our lives.  If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely. [Save yourself some time.]      (Oswald Chambers)

    Dark times come to each of us. But God always provides hope.

    We can ignore pleasure; we can ignore God speaking to us in good ways.  But pain insists on being attended to.      (C.S. Lewis)

    Dear friend, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something [new and] strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:12-13).

    We know that we must suffer, and that we deserve it.  Nevertheless, we are always surprised at affliction.

    No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13). You may even surprise yourself!

    Suffering has a purpose.  Look beyond the pain to find the purpose.

    You shouldn’t mind the trial if you know the Judge.

    Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17).

    A crisis will reveal whether we have been practicing or not.

    The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were His to take away.  Blessed by the name of the Lord [no matter what].  (Job 1:21)

    If we saw where our life was headed, if we had the whole picture laid out for us, there would be no need or room for faith.

    Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).

    Don’t get angry with God.  Use problems to strengthen your character and to bring glory to God.  Difficulty and joy are not exclusive enemies; more like mutual friends.

    And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produce perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope (Romans 5:3-4).

  • Why Do Bad Things Happen?

    Why do bad things happen to good people? This is the wrong question because it is the one question God never answers: Why.  The Old Testament prophets lamented; even Jesus cried out “My God, Why?”  God didn’t answer.  God never answers the ‘why’ because the person who asks it doesn’t really want an explanation; he wants an argument.  If God answered one why, we would come up with another.  There would be no end to it.  The right question is: What happens to good people when bad things happen?  Jesus answered: They are blessed.

    Crisis gives notoriously little warning before it bursts into your life.  It doesn’t call ten minutes before it arrives.  It refuses to knock politely and wait for you to answer the door.  More likely it simply rams the door off its hinges and there it is, unannounced, unexpected, unwelcome, and unwilling to go away.  Now… what do you do with it?  Does it stagger you… or strengthen you?  Does it ruin you… or refine you?  Does it plunge you into despair… or draw you closer to your Lord?

    Important questions.  Important not just for you but for others as well.  The way you handle sudden crisis has a lot to say about the reality of your faith in Christ Jesus.  You may talk a good faith, but the way you move through stressful situations in your life reveals to every watching eye the actual fiber of your faith.  Is it just window dressing, or is it an inner power that gives you peace and perspective in the midst of pain?  That’s the kind of faith that compels others to sit up and take notice – they will want to seek the source of your strength. [Wilkinson].

    The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death (Psalm 118:18).

    While God is in absolute control of all life, He is not the cause of all life’s mishaps. Rather His plan allows mishaps to train us.

    God’s purpose is not to punish but to correct and nurture.

    God’s questions to Job are not intended to teach but to stun. They are not to enlighten but to awaken. They are not to stir the mind but to bend the knee.

    We may not know what God is doing in our lives, but as long as we have trust, God will see it works out.  It’s a risk to say of circumstances “This is what God is doing,” but it is not a risk to say “God is present and active.”  This we can actually rest on!  [Wisdom 11:15-16]

    Trust in Jesus doesn’t remove obstacles. Rather it gives strength to overcome them. So we learn even more.