The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, trusting Him during a trial, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant. -Rick Warren
One of my new favorite quotes, because of the hard and rich truth. Praising God in spite of pain can be the hardest yet most rewarding thing we can do as followers of Christ. Trusting Him through a trial can seem never-ending when we aren't getting the answers we want or think we need. Surrendering while suffering can be difficult for our prideful hearts. And loving Him when He seems distant can feel lonely and confusing.
I am currently reading through What On Earth Am I Here For by Rick Warren and this stuck out to me. He said that admitting our hopelessness to God can be a statement of faith.
After reading that I felt comforted and relieved. As humans we always want to present our best to others and as if we have everything together. But that is just not the case with our relationship with God, and thank goodness for that! We can come to Him completely broken and hopeless and He hears us. He wants to hear our every thought and our hearts desires no matter what it may be. He wants complete honesty even when it is hard.
Through your suffering, you must rely on Christ. Be reminded of His truths and promises. Know that if you are suffering, that means you have an opportunity. An opportunity to strengthen your faith.
Circumstances cannot change the character of God. -Rick Warren
So often we get mad at God for putting us through certain trials and tribulations. That God is the exact same God before your suffering. He is not plotting against you and hoping you fail, no in fact He is on your side.
Here are some comforting verses about suffering to end this journal entry:
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope does not
put us to shame, because God's love has
been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet
trials of various kinds, for you know that the
testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that
you may be perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing.
James 1:2-4
For I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory that
is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18
- Emily Joy Journal
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