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life often brings us more sorrow than we think we can bear. But God is greater than every desolation. He is greater even than death. He will see us through.”
life often brings us more sorrow than we think we can bear. But God is greater than every desolation. He is greater even than death. He will see us through.”
“We travel through many wildernesses in life, be they real like Jacob’s Bethel, or wildernesses of the soul. Broken dreams, loss, grief. Sometimes there is nothing to comfort us but the hard stones of a lonely path. In those places, God seems so far away and distant. The way He does to Naomi right now. Yet, there is a ladder that touches down into the soil of our loneliest wilderness. The angels of the Lord ascend and descend upon it, and He is Himself watchful to give us aid.
The Lord is never far. It is our blindness that makes Him seem so. The veil between heaven and earth is parchment thin.”
“So what shall I do? Drown in my longing for what I cannot have or anchor my feet to the joy that I do have?”
No sorrow is ever wasted in His hands.”
“Chance is God’s way of showing up without making an announcement.”
“Can you not hear Him promising you, where you stay, I will stay? He is not afraid. He is not overcome by what overcomes you,
“When trouble comes into our lives, we are tempted to think less of ourselves. Tempted to believe that God thinks less of us, or else He would not allow such pain to have rule over us. Yet, just as the darkness of night cannot overcome the worth of these jewels, your sorrows made you no less precious. Not to God. Not to others.”
But the heart does not reason so judiciously. You can try to reassure your heart with prudent words, but the weight of old sorrows colors our perceptions beyond reason. The Lord Himself shall have to minister to Boaz and heal him of the past.
Beyond every expectation, beyond the measure of her faith, He had given her the fulfillment of her dream.
“You still measure yourself by the standards of this world, daughter. God has other measures. What does He care for wealth and connections? The cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him. You have what He looks for, Ruth: Love. Faithfulness. Compassion. For such treasures, He searches the heart of man. In you, He found a treasure trove.”
Surrender means you accept God’s will, whatever He should choose. But you lean into hope. Into expectation. Not into discouragement. When God asks us to surrender, He only wants our full trust. His will is not that the worst should always come to pass. You have given up on hope. Do you think the Lord wanted your despair the day He demanded that you surrender Ruth?”
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. God may not always answer our questions, but He walks with us in the midst of them, lest we get lost in the wilderness of our minds. Invite the Lord into your pain. Invite Him to be your sufficiency in the midst of it. I promise, He will sustain you.”
“Sustain me, Lord, through the best of life and the worst. Help me cling to You. Help me remember that although my flesh and my heart may fail, You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Carry me and rescue me even when I fight You. Overcome my struggles. Quiet me until I become like a weaned child with his mother.”
True success only means one thing: obedience to the Great Shepherd. Loving Him. Following Him. Abiding with Him.
There is only one measure of true success, child. How close you remain by His side. Does the dust of His feet get on your cloak because you follow so close? Does the sound of His whisper reverberate in your ear because you have drawn so near? Are you obedient to that voice, day after day, hour after hour? That’s how I measure success. Do you understand?”
