Quotes about Struggle

But only one with a gut full of faith can live a sermon on a mountain of pain.

Every level of inheritance requires a disinheritance from the devil. Satan must be moved off before the saint can move in.

There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life."1 Our deeds are ugly. Our actions are harsh. We don't do what we want to do, we don't like what we do, and what's worse—yes, there is something worse—we can't change.

Sin wants you, but you must rule over it.

The path to the palace wasn't quick; it wasn't painless, but wouldn't you say that God took this mess and made it into something good? And wouldn't you think he can do the same with yours? Tally up the pain of your past. Betrayals plus anger plus tragedies. Poorly parented? Wrongly accused? Inappropriately touched? Oh, how onerous life can be.

And now without your boat you think you will sink. You're correct. You will, for a while. Waves will sweep over you. Fear will suck you under like a Pacific riptide. But take heart, says Paul. Take heart, says Christ: "In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world" (John 16:33 NCV).

Don't see your struggle as an interruption to life but as preparation for life. No one said the road would be easy or painless. But God will use your mess for something good. "This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. . . . God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best" (Hebrews 12:8, 10 MSG).

If we sense we are victims of unseen, turbulent, random forces, we are troubled.

When God gets in the middle of life, evil becomes good.

When you are wondering what to do with your worst nightmare, you have to choose. Faith or fear, God's purpose or random history, a God who knows and cares or a God who isn't there? We all choose. Choose to trust God's promises. Choose to believe that God is up to something good even though all you see looks bad. Choose to believe because God is faithful.

We want certainty, but the only certainty is the lack thereof. That's why the most stressed-out people are control freaks. They fail at the quest they most pursue. The more they try to control the world, the more they realize they cannot.

Joseph's pit came in the form of a cistern. Maybe yours came in the form of a diagnosis, a foster home, or a traumatic injury. Joseph