The Uninvited Companion Quotes

“what God offers us in our pain is not necessarily solutions but presence. Sometimes God delivers us from pain; sometimes he does not. But he is always with us.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“We become like the one with whom we abide.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“God’s primary longing for us is not for our comfort; it is for our communion. He is not merely extending his gifts to us, but he is extending himself. His primary desire is always relational. Suffering is but one means he uses to catch our attention and draw us deeper into himself.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“It is walking well with God through suffering and its resulting impact on us that turns up the soil of our hearts for the seeds of true joy in Christ. The one who has been through the valleys of darkness and knows God’s loving care will give rise to a true, lasting, and God-oriented joy.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“Isaiah 57:1 says, “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil” (NIV).”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“Am I willing to give up my demand for explanations before I trust him and receive his loving care for me? It is our opportunity to trust his goodness, even if life experiences are painful, disorienting, and confusing.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“It is our weaknesses, losses, and brokenness that ministers to others. The lie that we need to have our act together in order to influence others distracts us from the truth that in our weaknesses God is strongest. Besides, everyone is struggling in one way or another, and it is helpful to hear how others are experiencing and responding to their struggles.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“Obedience is always an opportunity to express love to our God.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“A cry of desperation is not a doubt act; it is a faith act. God does not expect us to be competent to handle all of life’s challenges on our own. No, we need a Savior, and we need him again and again.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“something profound is going on in us as we endure through hardship. What we find is that they are not rejoicing in the pain but in what our glorious God does in us through pain.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“What if the hardships we find ourselves in today are not only for our benefit? What if God is doing something in us that will cost us much and immensely benefit others? What if we looked at life from that angle?”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“Endurance, perseverance, and patience are all required to journey through the tough stuff of life.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“There is a wiser question to ask than why—it is how? “How do you want me to walk with you in this, God?” That question leads us down entirely different paths, paths that are relational and wise.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“We will be reminded that circumstances do not define God; it is God who defines our circumstances.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“Suffering never has the final say. Our God does.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. … It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes” (Psalm 119:67–68, 71).”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities

“The first lesson is that God has designed the human soul to require suffering to reach maturity.”
― Scott E. Shaum, The Uninvited Companion: God's Shaping Us in His Love Through Life's Adversities