Thoughts to Ponder

"My circumstances aren't a measure of God's love and goodness - the cross is." Anne Cetas

“It is doubtful whether God can use a man greatly, until first He wounds him deeply." A.W. Tozer

"Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory." William Barclay

"Hold on tight. Often you cannot see how God has provided until the storm has passed." unknown

"The storms of our life prove the strength of our anchor." unknown

"When you face the storms in life and confusion sets in, remember back to the last thing you were absolutely certain was real and cling to it tightly until the storm passes." unknown

"Life changes when you least expect it to.  The future is uncertain.  So, seize this day, seize this moment, and make the most of it."  Jim Valvano, broadcaster; led North Carolina State University to a national championship before developing cancer in his lower back

"You're not truly sorry if you're still blaming someone else for your actions." Kathry Cushman

"God is able. God is willing. The path from here to there may take me through the storm, but I will not be alone." Ronda Knuth, 2/3/07

"Instead of telling God what you need, ask for strength and wisdom to deal with the situation to know how to support the one you love." unknown

"I will thank Him for all that He has given me, not curse Him for all that I've lost." unknown

"Our Father will refresh us with many inns on the journey, but He would not encourage us to mistake them for home."  C.S. Lewis

Everything that happens in our life is under His control and serves His purpose. I don't need to know the reason; I simply trust that there is one." unknown

"Trust Him and not the circumstances." Tracie Peterson

"Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservations." Elton Trueblood

"With God, even when nothing is happening, something is happening." Ruben Welch

"A God comprehended is no God at all." unknown

"God is fair; life isn't always fair." unknown

"God is good, even when life is not." unknown

"It's not so important what happens to us, but what happens in us." James Butler

There is no life so lost that it is irretrievable; there is no situation so broken that it is irreparable; there is no heart so shattered, that it is irredeemable. “ Ruth Vaughn

"Prayer may not always change the situation; but because of it I will never stay the same." unknown

"Not deliver me from this trial, but sustain me in it." unknown

"God is in control. He is calling the shots. He's not almost sovereign. God does not need our unenlightened analysis of His ways. He does not need our counsel." unknown

"Is God free to interrupt my life?"

"Lean into the pain." Tada

“God's love is a love that takes, but never forsakes.” Charles Swindoll

“He (God) permits what He hates, in order to accomplish what He loves. There's no more liberating or joyful truth for the suffering Christian.” Joni Eareckson Tada

“I'd rather be in this wheelchair with God than on my feet without Him.” Tada

“In Heaven I look forward to folding up my wheelchair, handing it to Jesus, and saying straight from the heart, ‘Thanks, I needed that.’ “ Tada

"We cannot forgive and forget. We forgive, and remember. But God can remove the sting." unknown

"Crisis will change your life in many ways; not all of them negative. God is a Redeemer God. If we allow Him to, He will take that which is negative and bring from it positive." unknown

"Pain must be faced. It cannot be ignored if it is to become a positive force in our lives. You can only get to the other side where there is joy, by going through the pain." unknown

“Suffering is not a weapon, it is a tool used by a master craftsman, God, to fashion, manage, mold my life.” Florence Littauer

“Because we cannot see what God is saving us from, we vent our foolish reproaches. If we could see this we would often kneel down and thank God for certain trials as the richest of His blessings.” unknown

“What proof could you bring of your love and faithfulness if this life left you unscarred?

How could you appreciate at all the scarred hands with which Christ will greet you?” Joni Tada

"Stress deepens and strengthens a Christian’s faith, and lets its reality be displayed.” unknown

"We suffer, when done graciously, in order to keep the focus on the gift, not on the packaging. We must be willing to be a clay pot for Christ." unknown

"We suffer so that we learn to rely not on ourselves, but on our omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, all loving Heavenly Father." unknown

“It is doubtful whether God can use a man greatly, until first He hurts him deeply.“ A.W. Tozer

“People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within.” Elizabeth Kubler Ross

“When God wants to do an impossible thing, He takes an impossible person, and crushes him.” A.W. Tozer

“Until a person experiences suffering he cannot know what it is to hope.” Martin Luther

“If God has made your cup sweet drink it with grace; if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion to Him.” Oswald Chambers

"Healing begins at the point of pain." David Seamands

"Intolerant people have never suffered." Chuck Swindoll

"There's a whole reality outside our finite understanding. A spiritual battle of good and evil . You could have died, but God intervened. Why? Because you're His, and He's isn't done with you yet." pg. 296 Secrets, Kristen Heitzmann

"It isn't suffering that builds character, but persevering through it." Secrets, pg. 311 Kristen Heitzmann

"The children of Israel would have been in the wilderness- disobedience or not. It was part of God's plan to toughen them for what lie ahead. It was their disobedience that kept them there as long as they were there." Don Bechtold

"If our hopes are being disappointed just now, it means that they are being purified . . . One of the greatest strains in life is the strain of waiting for God." Oswald Chambers

"And God's delays are very often because He is setting things in place, putting them in order, arranging them in ways that we have no business even trying to look into. Is my judgment wiser than God's; do I think I know more than God knows about what I need? 'Lord, you've got to do this for me. You've got to do it now. I've been waiting so long....' And He quietly says, "Keep waiting, I know what I'm doing." Elisabeth Elliot