Dealing with the Harder Things of Life ~ Faith, Hope, Trust, Purpose, Peace, and Joy

These are just a few things that I've read recently that have been an encouragement to me.  I hope they will be to some of you as well.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, according to the will of God.  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?  We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

Romans 8: 18, 24-26, 27b, 28, 31, 37b

 

“Today as I sit in my lonely room, this passage of God's Word flies in like a white dove through the window, "And now men see not the sun which is in the clouds; but the wind passes and clears them." Job 37:21. To my weak vision, dimmed with tears, the cloud is exceeding dark, but through it stream some rays from the infinite love which fills the Throne with an exceeding and eternal brightness of glory. By-and-by we may get above and behind that cloud—into the overwhelming light. We shall not need comfort then; but we do need it now. And for our present consolation, God lets through the clouds some clear, strong, distinct rays of love and gladness.

One truth which beams in through the vapors is this—God not only reigns, but He governs His world by a most beautiful law of compensations. He sets one thing over against another. Faith loves to study the illustrations of this law, notes them in her diary, and rears her pillars of praise for every fresh discovery. I have noticed that the deaf often have an unusual quickness of eyesight; the blind are often gifted with an increased capacity for hearing; and sometimes when the eye is darkened and the ear is closed, the sense of touch becomes so exquisite that we are able to converse with the sufferer through that sense alone.

This law explains why God put so many of His people under a sharp regimen of hardship and burden-bearing in order that they may be sinewed into strength; why a Joseph must be shut into a prison in order that he may be trained for a palace and for the premiership of the kingdom.”

Theodore Cuyler

"Those who dive into the sea of affliction, bring up rare pearls!"

Charles Spurgeon

"Afflictions tend to wean us from the world--and to fix our affections on things above."

John Angell James

 

Do you ever wonder what Paul’s thorn in his side was (2 Corinthians 12:8)?

I wonder all the time. Did he have this thorn before he was a believer? And, if so, how long had he had it? Or, did his thorn enter his life after it changed forever on the road to Damascus?

All I know is that Paul does not say what his thorn was. How mysterious of him!

I think we all have thorns that we’ve wished we could pray away. I know I’m guilty of it.

How many times I’ve come before the Lord and asked him why he’s allowed certain things to happen in my life.

While God is more than capable of erasing history, He doesn’t.  Why doesn’t He make exceptions…?

I think it’s because He calls us to be strong and courageous. (Joshua 1:9) He knows that we have His strength to handle whatever life throws our way, even if we don’t think we’re strong enough.

The Courage to Trust

We need to trust His strength, because God wouldn’t have allowed us to endure this pain otherwise. We can stand tall and be courageous…because it takes courage to trust.

While we may not have been given the ability to change our history and rid ourselves of our thorns, we have been given the power to embrace them…which is hard (I know).

It is possible to make lemonade out of those flying life-lemons.

It begins with the trusting choice of saying, “This will not defeat me.” Christ has already won the biggest battle of our lives (Romans 8:37), but the deceiver will do anything he can to convince us that we don’t have the strength to win the smaller ones.

But quite the opposite is true. God is in the business of making beautiful things . . . and every rose has its thorn.

~ Chels {Catz in the Kitchen}

http://club31women.com/

~Brittany

“What do you think especially gives me comfort at this time?

The creation!

I ask myself, “Did Jehovah create the world or did I?”

He did!

Now if He made the world and all the rolling spheres of the universe,

He certainly can take care of me.

Into Jesus’ hands I can safely commit my spirit!”

-- Charles Simeon --

"Holy fear looks not only before it leaps, but even before it moves.

It is afraid of error, afraid of neglecting duty, afraid of committing sin.

It fears ill company, loose talk, and questionable policy.
Fear of the very appearance of evil is a purifying principle,

which enables a man, through the power of the Holy Spirit,

to keep his garments unspotted from the world."
- Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook for September 9th -

~Brittany

A Meditation of Comfort

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”
- Isa_49:16
No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word “Behold,” is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me.” How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God’s favoured people? The Lord’s loving word of rebuke should make us blush; he cries, “How can I have forgotten thee, when I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands? How darest thou doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?” O unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of his people. He keeps his promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt him. He never faileth; he is never a dry well; he is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapour; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert. “Behold,” is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of his hands. “I have graven thee.”It does not say, “Thy name.” The name is there, but that is not all: “I have graven thee.” See the fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when he has graven thee upon his own palms?

Charles Spurgeon Morning and Evening Devotions November 7

Great Hearts can only be made by Great Troubles

I was so blessed by reading this this morning.  I know it's truth because the Lord has been doing this refining work in my life of late.  Trials draw us closer to our Savior, bring deeper surrender in our lives, make us more fervent in prayer, and more transformed for His service.

~Brittany

"For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."—2 Corinthians 1:5.

There is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales—in this side He puts His people's trials, and in that He puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to His crew. It is a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—He finds it full—He begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it. Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is this—then we have the closest dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honour Jehovah. "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord." There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of weighty mercies.

--Charles Spurgeon's Morning Meditation, February 12th

Beauty in the Broken~Song

Someone had recently shared this song with me and I was very blessed by the truth in the lyrics of this song.  I hope you are blessed and encouraged by it as well!