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What Does the Bible Say About Suffering?
Today, we’ll answer the question, “What does the Bible say about suffering?” Most of us do what we can to avoid pain and suffering; meanwhile, God’s Word assures us that God has a purpose for our pain. I invite you to read my personal testimony of suffering. Then, we’ll look at a list of Scriptures on suffering. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you encounter God’s comfort in suffering. What Does the Bible Say About Suffering? There are chickadees at the bird feeder, and the world is quiet as we step slowly into another year. It has been a…
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Seeing God Through Pain and Suffering: 5 Unexpected Things God Is Doing in the Dark
The maples tower grey and unclothed in the valley behind the house. This place looks nothing like the lush sanctuary that enveloped me in its arms two months ago. As I stare out the window, the austerity of the world matches the state of my soul. If I’m honest, I’ve been having trouble seeing God through pain and suffering lately. Seeing God Through Pain and Suffering This season has not come easily here. It has not met our expectations. Some of our dreams have come to life, and some have fallen apart. It’s not always easy to sense God’s presence when you are suffering. But faith isn’t about feeling; it’s…
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The One Truth You Need in Your Darkest Hour
Our little family is feeling just a bit threadbare as we step into this new season of darkness and cold, windy days. We’ve walked through deep waters over the past months, and we are weary. Perhaps you can relate. Maybe you need hope in your darkest hour, or perhaps you feel worn down by the daily grind of your life. Let’s take a few moments to find hope to hold onto in our dark seasons together today. In Your Darkest Hour, Turn Here Winter feels like a dark hour for me. This winter feels especially dark. It reminds me of some big bumps in the road of our lives, things…
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The Secret No One Tells You in Your Lowest Moment
My lowest moment came on a sunny winter morning, golden beams of daylight blazing through the smudged windowpane. I awoke with a throbbing head and a list of regrets so long that I couldn’t begin to count them. Reeling from the grief of a crushing relational breakdown, confused about the trajectory of my future, and uncertain of how to move forward, I felt stuck. I wondered if my lowest moment would ever end and prayed for God to take away the pain. Maybe you can relate. Maybe your heart has been torn in two, and you’re living in the middle of your lowest moment today, too. Today, we’ll talk about…
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4 Inspiring Prayers for Hope in Troubled Times
A few years ago I met a woman who smiled more than anyone I’d ever met. She lived with a kind of hope I longed to uncover for myself. My smiling friend had faced hard seasons, losses I couldn’t even fathom, and grief no woman should ever have to bear. And yet she kept smiling. She inspired me to start praying passionate prayers for hope in my life. I want to be a hopeful woman. I want to live with optimism in my heart and a deep belief God is with me in the darkest valleys. Not long ago, I stumbled upon the following words: “Strength and dignity are her…
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10 Empowering Prayers for Strength and Wisdom
Our little boy presses his face to mine in the silence of the night, and I drink it in. He’s inching ever closer to his fourth year, and I wonder how it’s all going so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was uttering prayers for strength and wisdom as the doctor pulled him from my body. We rock long into the early hours of a new day, and every time I try to put him down, he says, “Hold me one more minute.” I don’t have the heart to put him back in bed with this fever, this cough wracking his little body. I’m content to hold him through…
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5 Powerful Truths About Trusting God in the Valley
I weave through a mantle of green rose bushes, wood nettle, and poison oak. It’s growing darker here in the valley behind our house. I’m sure our children are racing across the backyard in the evening sunlight, but it feels like night in the valley. As I walk, I consider what trusting God in the valley really looks like. Trusting God in the Valley As the valley walls block out the sun’s last rays, I recall a valley we faced when winter’s arms still stretched white over these hills. I rest on a fallen sycamore and watch trout jump as they eat the flies rising from black water. Looking back,…
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4 Things to Do When You Feel Helpless
I remember the way the shadows danced on the walls as I held her through the night, the ulcers in her mouth burning with a relentlessness that made sleep hard to find. I’d bring her to the bed and let her whimper in my arms as her three-year-old body slipped in and out of sleep, and it felt like something in me just might tear wide open. And what in the world are you supposed to do when you feel helpless over the situations that matter most in your life? It was a medical condition that shaped our lives for over a year, and most of the time we felt…
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10 Bible Verses About Waiting Patiently for God’s Perfect Timing
It’s a cloudy Monday morning when I open my Bible in search of Bible verses about waiting patiently for God’s perfect timing. Beside me, the amaryllis has burst into full bloom. It bows low under the weight of its heavy blossom. After all of this waiting for it to bloom, I wonder if the blossom might crush it. I watch the amaryllis become its fullest self, and I wonder about my own growth. Perhaps this recent season of waiting on God has been more purposeful than I’ve imagined. Maybe God knows that if I bloom before I’m ready, the weight of it will crush me. Nevertheless, I’m tired of waiting.…
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4 Prayers for Hope and Peace in Difficult Times
I’m sorting through my eight-year-old’s backpack when I hear the words echo from the TV in the living room. Another shooting. Fatalities. Children running for safety with their arms stretched in the air. Bowing my head at the table, I turn to the Lord with urgent prayers for hope and peace in this broken world. 4 Prayers for Hope and Peace We’re all facing the consequences of living in a fallen world. We all face dark days and troubled times. After a few minutes of prayer, I think about this as I set the homework on the dining room table and hand my sweet girl a snack. My mind drifts…
