QUOTES ON COMFORT IN SORROW
--Compiled and Read on Audio Cassette by Maria
1. Sometimes things happen just to keep you close to the Lord--sickness, trouble, problems. Sometimes they happen to drive you closer to each other. Sometimes they happen to keep you humble. Sometimes they happen to make you pray, all kinds of reasons for having troubles. Even troubles and tribulations are good for us.
2. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psa.37:19)--that's what keeps them so righteous, their many afflictions.
3. Pain is a touch of Hell, healing is a touch of Heaven.
4. One of the greatest of healing factors is faith, to know that God loves you and cares for you and is going to take care of you no matter what happens. Faith eliminates one of the greatest causes of disease and ill health, and that's fear and tension.
5. You're not trusting God utterly as long as you're leaning on something else, looking around for something to start on, a little bit of something to help God out.
6. He's never failed me all these years, why should He fail me now?--Or why should I fail Him now? I feel like the old Armenian when the Turks were ready to behead him, when they told him if he'd deny his faith in Christ they'd let him live. He said, "Well, I've known Jesus all these years and He's never failed me, so why should I fail Him now?"--And he died for his faith.
7. I know a name that can still the raging tempest,
I know a name that can calm the troubled sea,
I know a name that can drive away all sorrow,
I know a name that is greater than them all.
I know a name from which comfort I may borrow
When others fail and tears of anguish fall.
I know a name, a wonderful name,
That wonderful name is Jesus!
8. Whatever God does, He does it in love--He can give it or take it away--but whichever, He always does both in love.
9. There is an arm that never tires when human strength gives way. There is a love that never fails when Earthly loves decay.
10. You can have peace even in the midst of storm.
11. No matter how bad a thing is and no matter how bad it seems and though you can't understand it at the time, it always works out for something good in the long run.
12. "In the World ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the World."--Jn.16:33.
13. "We are troubled on every side yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed."--2Cor.4:8.
14. "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake."--Phil.1:29.
15. The outlook may not always be easy, but the uplook is great!
16. How can we be more than conquerors?--By being good losers and even praising God in our affliction.
17. God gets His greatest victories out of seeming defeat and He often brings them along the neglected path of praise.
18. If we pause to think, we will have cause to thank.
19. Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!
20. "While I live will praise the Lord. I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being."--Psa.146:2.
21. Drown yourself in Jesus like the drunk drowns his sorrows in drink.
22. My tears reach God's ears in the big hall of Heaven. I burn my heart and I pour out my soul unto Jesus and the smoke thereof rises and there is a sweet vapour. We burn, we consume, we pour out our heart and it pours up to Him.
23. Groanings which cannot be utter are often prayers which cannot be refused. (See Rom.8:26)
24. There is always hope if there is love and prayer.
25. Effectual are the faithful prayers of David's children.
26. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint."--Isa.40:31.
27. "And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear."--Isa.65:24.
28. "Call upon Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."--Jer.33:3.
29. "Father, all things are possible unto Thee; nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt."--Mk.14:36.
30. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."--Rom.8:26.
31. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."--Heb.4:16.
32. God won't let a thing happen to you except what He has designed or allowed to happen.
33. Nothing happens to His children but by His will or with His permission.
34. When God allowed the Devil to test Job, He first of all took away all his wealth, then He even took away his family, his children and all that he loved, and finally his health. It was all a test, perpetrated by the Devil but allowed by the Lord, in order to show that Job really loved the Lord in spite of it all.
35. The Lord said, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light," but there's one condition to it: "Come unto Me!" (See Mat.11:28-30.)
36. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee, he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."--Psa.55:22.
37. God never takes one thing away from you without giving you something better.
38. For they that bear the cross shall wear the crown and God shall be their reward.
39. There are no crown-wearers in Heaven who were not cross-bearers here.
40. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward.
41. "Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."--Mat.6:19,21.
42. I don't believe in reminding yourself of your losses, like putting up a picture of a lost loved one to cry over all the time.
43. Teach me, O Lord, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask reward save that of knowing that I do Thy will.
44. What costs nothing is worth nothing.
45. Jesus didn't go halfway to the cross for you, or almost all the way, but He went all the way and gave all His life for you. How much are you willing to give for others?
46. Are you going to reign now a little while and suffer a lot later? Or are you going to suffer a little now and reign forever?
47. Real love will cost you your life and you can't pay any price greater than that.
48. One lays down the cross, another takes it up. One forsakes the crown, another cherishes it. One deserts his birthright, another inherits it.
49. Are you willing to give till it hurts? Jesus did, He gave His life. God did, He gave His Son. David did, he said, "I will not give unto the Lord of that which has cost me nothing."--2Sam.24:24. They gave until it hurt.
50. One thing that's going to keep you going is to know that it's not going to be much longer.
51. "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the grace of God."--Acts 20:24.
52. "Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward."--Heb.11:35.
53. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love Him."--Jam.1:12.
54. "Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown."--Rev.3:11.
55. I cannot, but God can,
O balm for all my care.
The burden that I drop,
His hand will lift and bear.
56. When I'm tired, I'm weary and I'm worn
And fighting to survive,
In my very weakness
Christ then comes alive.
57. "The Lord, He it is that doth go before thee. He will be with thee. He will not fail thee neither forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed."--Deut.31:8.
58. He washed my eyes with tears that I might see.
59. Suffering is good for you, it humbles you and gives you more compassion on others.
60. "For thou shalt suffer many things, many trials, many tribulations and many tests before that day. But I will bring thee forth as pure gold if thy faith fail not."
61. When God is putting you through a test He's probably doing it so you will cry out to Him and draw closer to Him. If you try to escape Him by running to somebody else instead, God is going to be displeased. Because He said, "I will have no other gods before Me."--Exo.20:3.
62. Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.
63. Tears wash your eyes and bathe your heart, they cleanse your mind and clear your thoughts. Thank You Lord for tears.
64. Light is so much more appreciated in darkness.
65. Sorrow, suffering, sacrifice and sadness bring out sweetness, compassion, love and tenderness.
66. There is no crown without a cross, no testimony without a test, no triumph without a trial, no victory without a battle, no rose without a thorn. We cannot have mountains without valleys.
67. "Blessed are they that mourn" (Mat.5:4)--and mend.
68. The caverns of sorrow are mines of diamonds.
69. From the squeezing and twisting of David's life came forth the sweet honey of the Psalms and the fragrance of his praises to the Lord for His mercy.
70. Sometimes God makes us by breaking us.
71. Suffering is a catalyst, the test tube time to see if you either have got the grace already to take it by faith, or if it can turn you to grace.
72. You can't put out the lights just because you're crying and feeling bad, people still need the light.
73. In the presence of trouble, some people buy crutches, others grow wings.
74. I walked a mile with folly,
She chattered all the way,
But never a thing I learned from her
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with sorrow
And never a word said she,
But oh the things I learned that day
When sorrow walked with me.
75. Resisting adversity causes some men to break, others to break records.
76. Great trials seem to be necessary preparation for great duties.
77. I don't believe in giving the Devil credit for anything. I don't think a thing happens to Christians except what God allows, even if the Devil does bring it. So quit giving the Devil credit for it. "All things come of God" and "all things work together for good to them that love the Lord."--Rom.8:28.
78. Nothing happens to a Christian without the permission of God or your permission.
79. God didn't promise you an easy voyage, but a safe arrival.
80. After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser.
81. Your soul would have no rainbows if it had no tears.
82. The Devil's business is to give you tests and trials to try to convince you that God doesn't love you and that He doesn't answer prayer.
83. God tests your faith to see if it's real gold faith and whether you'll still believe and obey Him no matter what happens.
84. He can cause you who have been marred to grow again into beautiful flowers out of the ashes of the fires of His chastisement and purges.
85. Always try to smile through your tears. A ray of sunshine is even more beautiful in the midst of rain.
86. Out of the presses of pain
Come the soul's best wine,
And the eyes that have shed no rain
Can shed but little shine.
87. "Thy tears shall be wiped away and the former things shall be no more in the glories of the ecstasies of the Kingdom to come. These shall be they that shall be no more and they that shall be forgotten like a dream or a tale in the real World to come forever. For yet a little more sorrow and a little more crying, a little more pain and these things of time shall be no more and shall be forgotten as a tale that is told and like a dream that is past in the glories that shall come. It will be worth it all."
88. "I make thee more precious than gold for I have put thee in the refiner's fire that thou shalt come through this fire precious unto Him and priceless."
89. "I will not suffer thee to be tempted above what thou art able to bear.--1Cor.10:13. For the things which thou hast suffered have given thee righteous judgement and compassion for the poor in need, and thou hast sympathy for them which suffer because of the things which thou hast suffered."
90. "Behold the love with which I have loved thee and the comfort with which I have comforted thee is greater by far than this light affliction which I have given thee, that thou might know My love and My mercy."
91. Did you know that Jesus was tempted in all points just like we are, and that there were times when He was sick and He was tired and He was hungry and He was thirsty and He was discouraged?
92. Things just don't happen to children of God,
They're part of a wonderful plan.
The troubles, reverses, the sorrows, the rod,
Are strokes of the great Sculptor's hand.
Persecution, tribulation come down like a storm,
Friends disappoint and withstand.
At last alone, bewildered, forlorn,
You look and He smiles, "This is planned!"
Things don't just happen to children of God,
The blueprint was made by His hand.
He designed all the details to conform to His Son,
So all things that happen are planned.
No matter what happens to those called His Own,
Events that are awful or grand,
Every trial of your life He sends from His Throne,
Things just don't happen, they're planned.
93. The Lord loves to watch us endure the affliction and the battle and fight and win the race. He loves to watch us make it in spite of all the trials and tests. I think He even sometimes watches and sees the effect on us when we lose, if we can take that.
94. "He hath done all things well."--Mk.7:37.
95. "For it became Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."--Heb.10:2.
96. "Though He were a son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered."--Heb.5:8.
97. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."--1Pe.4:12,13.
98. "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."--1Pe.4:19.
99. "But the God of all grace, Who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."--1Pe.5:10.
100. He is no fool who trades what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
101. The outlook for us in this World and our future here could hardly be darker, but the uplook could hardly be brighter or more glorious.
102. Father let me dedicate all this year to Thee
In whatever Earthly state Thou wilt have me be.
Not from sorrow, pain or care, freedom dare I claim,
This alone shall be my prayer, glorify Thy name!
103. God will mend a broken heart if you give Him all the pieces.
104. When you reach the end of your rope and are in some great crisis experience of your life, cry out desperately to Him in this time of trial, in this time of Gethsemane followed by this crucifixion, and God will answer. And it will result in glorious resurrection which can surpass all your wildest dreams and is mightier and greater than anything you've ever thought of!
105. Jesus Christ is a matchless life-mender. Try Him! He will take that seemingly shattered life and fashion a far more beautiful one from its fragments than you yourself could ever have wrought from the whole.
106. You don't know how you are going to make it, but He can make it for you.
107. "I can't," despairingly I cried!
This gentle whisper sounded at my side:
"Of course not, child, thou wast not fashioned so.
But I, thy Father, can and will.
I know thy weakness, all thy longings see,
And I am always strong to strengthen thee."
108. When all is dark and I cannot see
I call Your name, You come to me.
You take my hand and draw me near
You light my way and make it clear.
109. "By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name."--Heb.13:15.
110. If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies! Yet distance makes no difference, He is praying for me. "He ever liveth to make intercession."--Heb.7:25.
111. "Satan hath desired to have thee that he might sift thee as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not."--Lk.22:31.
112. Demand and expect an answer! He has promised it. He'll not fail. He cannot deny Himself. He is bound by His Word, remind Him of it! Cling to His promises, memorise and quote them continually and never doubt for a moment that God is going to answer and He will. He has to, He wants to! Trust Him and thank Him for the answer even if you don't see it immediately. "For behold, the trying of your faith is much more precious than gold."
113. The Lord's answers to prayer are infinitely perfect and they will show that often when we were asking for a stone that looked like bread, He was giving us bread that to our short-sightedness looked like a stone.
114. When the Devil tempts you to get down and discouraged, fight! Start doing something positive.
115. A diamond is a chunk of coal that's made good under pressure.
116. God doesn't let anything happen to you, a child of His who loves Him, except what is for your good.
117. Nothing ever happens by accident to one of God's children.
118. I'm so utterly convinced of the love and mercy and justice and longsuffering of God that I know whatever happens is what ought to happen or what God allows to happen for a good reason.
119. God only uses broken men and women, no others will do.
120. Afflictions cannot injure when blended with submission.
121. One thing for sure, God knows what He's doing, so even if you don't understand it and you don't know what He's doing, He does. So you just have to wrap it up in a little bundle of faith and tuck it away until some day He reveals why.
122. We don't know why right now, we may not even know why for years, maybe we won't know some of these things till we get to Heaven, why He did some of these things and why He allowed some of these things. All I know is God. I don't know why, I just know the Lord is and He loves me and He knows best, that's all.
123. "Lift thy heart unto Him in praise and thank the Lord! Kiss the Son's mouth, love Him with all thy heart! Love the Words of His mouth and unto thy utmost, even the Word which He has sworn unto David."
124. The power of positive praise is terrific! Count your blessings! Thank God for all He has done and chase the Devil away and all his shades of night by letting the light in.
125. The power of positive praise and quoting and singing and action just really puts the Devil on the run! He sure doesn't like the Scripture and he hates praise and he hates thanksgiving and he hates songs of prayer and praise and he especially hates our positive, active work for the Lord.
126. "As the fining pot for silver and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise."--Prov.27:21.
127. The Lord lets you go through some of these trials and tests sometimes even to let you think He's being a little too hard on you. "How could He let our children suffer like this? How could He do that sort of thing to people? How can He let that sort of thing happen?" The Devil is always around to ask you those questions to try to make you doubt the Lord and even criticise the Lord to make yourself righteous with God.
128. All I know is we've got to trust God anyhow. Like the little girl said, "Lord, please take care of Yourself most of all, because if anything happened to You, we'd all be sunk!"
129. We've got to trust God anyway no matter what, even if we don't understand. Some day we'll know, even if we don't know now. Maybe that's why God lets some things happen that we don't understand, just to test our faith and see if we'll still trust Him anyhow.
130. That's the greatest victory of all, when you seem to be defeated and you still trust the Lord. That must be the greatest and the most pleasing thing of all to God, that even when it looks like you're lost and you're defeated and you're not making it, you still trust Him anyhow like Job. Faith in the face of disaster, faith in the face of agony, faith in the face of death.
131. Sometimes the best thing we can do is say, "I don't know, all I know is God. I don't know why, I just know the Lord is and He loves and He knows best, that's all."
132. If we don't understand now, we will later.
133. Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.
134. There are a lot of things we don't understand now. That's one of the great eternal questions of this life: "Why does God allow sin and suffering?" We probably won't know all the answers to that question until we get to Heaven. We can see some of the answers and understand some reasons why now, but I presume most of it we won't really comprehend till we get there and see the whole picture. That's going to be part of our training and education, to learn why and finally get all the answers.
135. When your heart is aching turn to Jesus!
He's the dearest Friend that you can know.
You will find Him standing close beside you,
Waiting peace and blessing to bestow!
He heals every heartache,
He hears every sigh,
This wonderful Saviour of mine.
He helps me in trouble,
He heeds when I cry,
This wonderful Saviour of mine!
136. The valley may be dark, the shadows deep,
But the Shepherd guards His lonely sheep.
137. When a man can do nothing else, he can pray. A praying man can never be a useless man.
138. We can never stumble in the darkness if He leads us.
139. Faith brightens our lives in a magical way
Bringing quiet and peace to a troubled day.
Faith is believing that after the rain,
Bright birds will be singing and sunshine again.
Faith lets us know that the darkness of night
Is followed each morning by dawn's glowing light.
140. He says, "I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee."--Heb.13:6. It's not God that's not always there, it's we who are not always there. We sometimes run off someplace else and leave Him way behind.
141. When you get under pressure and persecution, the Lord gives you a special anointing, special revelations, even more than you had before, to encourage, guide and help you.
142. When you're so weak you don't feel capable or sufficient, then God has a chance to take over and do things to suit Himself.
143. "I have given unto thee that which is more precious than eyes or ears or nose or throat, I have given unto thee the love and the patience and the faith to endure the afflictions."
144. You have the Lord and He's your security. He's always the same and always with you wherever you go. No matter if all things change and everything goes, you still have the Lord.
145. When all your hopes are gone and all seems to fail, even when your dreams are shattered and your ships come home with broken sails, you still have Jesus and He's all you need.
146. You may sometimes tremble on the rock, but the rock will never tremble under you.
147. Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.
148. The darkest hour is just before dawn, and then it will be God's tomorrow which will last forever with you and me!
149. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take!
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head!
150. When everything else is passed away, you'll still have Jesus! When everything else is gone, there will still be Jesus. When all others forsake you, there will still be Jesus. When you haven't got anything left, there will still be Jesus. When the World has nothing left, you will still have Jesus.
151. "For I am He that filleth all things, to pour out upon the thirsty ground, to beautify the lowly life, to heal the ragged wounds, to enlighten the darkened minds, to bring grace and beauty and wisdom."
152. God puts consolation only where He first put pain.
153. God is with us and the storm cannot overcome us.
154. There's no greater comfort than to remember when you're living in the center of God's will, nothing can ever happen to you without God's permission.
155. His Word is always a comfort and the voice of His Spirit is always an encouragement in the hour of greatest trial.
156. Forget thyself. Console the sadness near thee,
Thine own shall then depart,
And songs of joy like Heavenly birds shall cheer thee
And dwell within thy heart.
157. "I shall wipe away all thy tears, neither shalt thou remember them any more. For all thy pain shall be forgotten in the beauties and joys that are to come."
158. "Yet a little while and time shall be no more. Just a little more time, a little while, and thou shalt be with Me forever. "Sorrow shall endure for a season, but joy cometh in the morning." Then all these things shall be swept away. "Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words."--Psa.30:5; 1Thes.4:18)
159. "I shall take away thy pain and thy grief forever with everlasting joy and eternal solace that shall never end."
160. What are you worrying about? You're in His hands.
161. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."--Mat.5:4. Blessed to mourn? More blessed to have problems and sorrows? Yes! Because you will be comforted.
162. Jesus never sleeps. He watches all the time with all of His angels and saints. He knows every hair of your head. Everything is in His hands.
163. Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There shall thy heart be happy,
There shalt thou find sweet rest!
164. I want you to really get thrilled and excited and looking forward to Heaven and it will help you bear some of these burdens and trials that you're going through now when you realise these are only just for a moment.
165. The suffering of this present time is not anything to be compared to the glories that we are going to share in the near future.
166. Just open your heart and let the sun shine in. When you look up, the sky is the limit. Up there the sun is always shining. The light is always shining at the end of the tunnel.
167. Sorrow comes to stretch out places in our hearts for joy.
168. Sing through the darkness and sing in the light,
Sing with the morning and sing in the night!
Sing when your eyes have been clouded with pain,
Sing in the sunshine and sing through the rain.
169. God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.
170. Long years ago I planned it all for thee,
Prepared it that thou mightst find need of Me.
Without it, child, thou wouldst not come,
To find this place of comfort in this love of Mine.
Hadst thou no cross like this for Me to bear,
Thou wouldst not feel the need of My strong care.
But in thy weakness thou dost come to Me,
And through this plan I have won thee.
171. Hearts growing aweary with heavier woe,
Now droop 'mid the darkness, go, comfort them, go!
Go bury thy sorrows, let others be blessed,
Go give them the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest.
172. Sorrows are but incidents in life and must not interrupt us. We must leave them behind while we press on to the things that are before. God has so ordered that in pressing on in duty we shall find the truest, richest comfort for ourselves.
173. Hide your thorn in the rose, bury your sigh in the song, keep your cross if you will, but keep it under a wreath of flowers. It is the singing of your heart that will make you forget your sorrow.
174. Child of My love, fear not the unknown morrow,
Dread not the new demand life makes of thee.
Thy ignorance doth hold no cause for sorrow,
Since what thou knowest not is known to Me.
175. We can rebuild our houses like the birds their nests, instead of grieving over their destruction.
176. Nestle your hand in your Father's
And sing if you can as you go.
Your song may cheer someone behind you
Whose courage is sinking low.
And if your lips do quiver,
God will love you the better so.
177. Out of every sorrow God means that there should come submission, a drawing nearer to His Own great heart of love, a new vision of the shallowness of Worldly streams and the depths of divine ones, a closer devotion to Jesus than ever before known, a loosening of the grasp on time and its tightening upon eternity.
178. Your sorrow is meant to be a strength-giver to you and to equip you for giving strength to others.
179. I think that God is proud of those who bear a sorrow bravely, proud indeed of them who walk straight through the dark to find Him there, and kneel in faith to touch His garment's hem.
180. We must choose to be comforted. We must believe it. We must say to ourselves, "God says it and it's true and I am going to believe it no matter how it looks."
181. When Dr. Moon of Brighton, England was stricken with blindness, he said, "Lord, I accept this talent of blindness from Thee. Help me to use it for Thy glory that at Thy coming Thou mayest receive Thine Own with usury." Then God enabled him to invent the Moon alphabet for the blind by which thousands of blind people were enabled to read the Word of God, and many of them were gloriously saved.
182. Great trials make common Christians into uncommon saints and fit them for being used in uncommon service.
183. No, we are not here just for ourselves. Love must be strong and unselfish. It must look away from its own torn heart to a needy World, forward to a day when it shall be joyous forever, up to the Father Who does all things well.
184. I know thy sorrow, child, I know it well.
Thou needst not try with broken voice to tell.
Just let Me lay thy head here on My breast,
And find here sweetest comfort, perfect rest.
Thou needst not bear the burden, child, thyself.
I yearn to take it all upon Myself.
Then trust it all to Me today--tomorrow
Yes, e'en forever; for I know thy sorrow.
185. Jesus deals very gently with those who find the cross heavy. He sympathises, for He knows what it means to suffer. He sank under His Own cross and had to be helped by a passer-by on the way to Calvary.
186. The closer fellowship with your Father which began amid your tears, will become a dynamic force to carry you forward into braver and better deeds.
187. One of the most serious dangers of inconsolable sorrow is that it may lead us to neglect our duty to the living in our mourning for the lost or dead. This we should never do. God does not desire us to give up our work because our heart is broken.
188. "My burden is too heavy, Lord," I tremblingly said.
"I can no further carry it," and tears I shed.
Then came a sudden cry for help from one sore pressed;
I ran to seek him, gladly gave him of my best.
Then thought I of my heavy burden, but lo 'twas gone!
The gloom and doubt had vanished quite and love's light shone!
189. Your life task is to demonstrate what miracles God can work through a man's triumph over the seemingly insurmountable. If your burden is supremely heavy, it is evidence that God has superior confidence in you and that He is permitting you to undertake a task of particular significance. He trusts you to win.
190. What subtler decoration of honour can any Godly man seek after than his scars of service, his losses for the crown, his reproaches for Christ's sake, his being worn out in his Master's service.
191. There is no failure of life so terrible as to have the pain without the lesson, the sorrow without the softening.
192. Measure thy life by loss and not by gain, not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth. For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice, and he who suffers most has most to give.
193. From the desert of loneliness and despair came Hagar's, "Thou God seest me!" From a heart tested and tried came Job's, "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" From a broken and contrite heart was David's, "Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow!" Out of lonely Gethsemane came perfect submission, "Thy will be done!" Through the gates of deepest sorrow great souls found their way to a more splendid life. At the foot of the cross the crown was found. The tomb is the gate of the resurrection, death is the door to life.
194. Does Jesus care when I've said goodbye
To the dearest on Earth to me?
When my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks,
Is it ought to Him? Does He see?
Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief.
Though the days be weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Saviour cares.
195. There are no great souls without great sorrows.
196. Those who are broken in wealth and broken in self-will and broken in their ambitions and broken in their beautiful ideals and broken in Worldly reputation and broken in their affections and broken oft times in health, those who are despised and seem utterly forlorn and helpless, the Holy Ghost is seizing upon and using for God's glory. "The lame take the prey," Isaiah tells us.
197. There are souls like the alabaster vase of ointment, very precious, which shed no perfume of devotion because a great sorrow has never broken them.
198. Rain, rain, beating against the pane,
How endlessly it pours out of doors
From the blackened sky, I wonder why?
Flowers, flowers, up springing after showers,
Blossoming fresh and fair everywhere!
Ah, God has explained why it rained!
199. Don't be afraid of tears, they're nothing to be ashamed of. Even Jesus wept.
200. Cast your burden on the Lord, just roll it over on Jesus and roll over and go to sleep and let Him stay up all night! Don't worry about it, let the Lord do the worrying. His shoulders are broad enough to carry any load, all the burdens put together including His Own.
201. "Thou shalt forget thy misery and remember it as waters that pass away."
202. "The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times in trouble. And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee, for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee."--Psa.9:9,10.
203. "He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me because He delighted in me."--Psa.18:19.
204. "For Thou wilt light my candle. The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness."--Psa.18:28.
205. "Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance."--Psa.32:7.
206. "Thou which hast shown me great and sore troubles shall quicken me again and shall bring me up again from the depths of the Earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness and comfort me on every side."--Psa.71:20,21.
207. "He shall call upon Me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him."--Psa.91:15.
208. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me."--Psa.138:7.
209. "The Lord upholdeth all that fall and raiseth up all those that be bowed down."--Psa.145:14.
210. "He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds."--Psa.147:3.
211. "Fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness."--Isa.41:10.
212. "When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."--Isa.43:2.
213. "Sing, O Heavens, and be joyful, O Earth, and break forth into singing O mountains, for the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands, thy walls are continually before Me."--Isa.49:13-16.
214. "For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."--Isa.54:10.
215. "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires."--Isa.54:11.
216. "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them and He bear them and carried them all the days of old."--Isa.63:9.
217. "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem."--Isa.66:13.
218. "For the Lord will not cast off forever, but though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."--Lam.3:31-33.
219. "And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the World."--Mat.28:20.
220. "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know."--Jn.14:1-4.
221. "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you."--Jn.14:18.
222. "These things have I spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace. In the World ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the World."--Jn.16:33.
223. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."--Rom.8:18.
224. "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."--2Cor.1:4.
225. "And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation."--2Cor.1:7.
226. "If we suffer we shall also reign with Him."--2Tim.2:12.
227. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away."--Rev.21:4.
228. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for Thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."--Rom.8:35,36.
229. Keep on believing, Jesus is here!
Keep on believing, there's nothing to fear!
Keep on believing, this is the way,
Faith in the night as well as the day.
230. When the little widow cast in all her living she must have had a lot of faith and expected God to give it back, and I'm sure He did.
231. It's not that the brave are not afraid, it's just that they have the courage and the faith to go ahead. If they were not afraid they wouldn't have to be brave.
232. Faith sees crowns growing on the top of crosses.
233. Lose everything but your faith in God and you'll lose nothing. Lose your faith in God and you'll lose everything.
234. Faith is insane, there's no sanity to faith. Faith is all completely contrary to natural expectation and natural conditions.
235. Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.
236. It is His Will that I should cast my care on Him each day,
He also bids me not to cast my confidence away.
But oh how foolishly I act when taken unaware,
I cast away my confidence and carry all my care!
237. If there's anything I know it is that God has never failed and I've always been glad I trusted Him.
238. Trust in the dark brings triumph at dawn.
239. Through His Word God can blow upon the embers of your faith bringing it back to life again when you're down and discouraged and have almost given up hope.
240. Life's yesterdays have passed forever beyond our reach. God has them in His keeping, leave them there.
241. I have lived too long among the stars to fear the night.
242. If your knees are knocking, kneel on them!
243. The best way a ship can ride out the storm is when it faces directly into the wind and the waves.
244. "And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee. He will be with thee, He will not fail thee neither forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed."--Deut.31:8.
245. "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?"--Psa.27:1.
246. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the Earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof."--Psa.46:1-3.
247. "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee."--Isa.41:13.
248. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."--2Tim.1:7.
249. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."--1Jn.4:18.
250. Better to fight and lose than not to fight at all. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
251. Make an advantage out of your handicap. Build a bridge out of your broken dreams and set those ships asail again.
252. Let your drooping hearts be glad,
March in Heavenly armour clad.
Fight, don't think the battle long,
For soon shall come the victory song.
253. "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death."--Rev.12:11.
254. Your kisses, Jesus, kiss away our hurts and our tears and our sins and our diseases.
255. Before the throne of God Above
I have a strong, a perfect plea,
A great High Priest Whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
256. If you don't have love enough to forgive, you don't have love, because forgiveness is love.
257. Every day of the past is beyond our reach and we should leave it there.
258. Once you have determined to serve the Lord you can't lose--anything but your life.--Or maybe your wife or husband or children or mother or father or houses and lands or money. But what is that in comparison to all He offers you?
259. Don't remind yourself of your losses. Forget the past and live for today.
260. You will never know the fullness of the joy of serving God to the utmost until you have forsaken all to follow Jesus.
261. I don't understand how anybody can give God less than everything.
262. "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ."--Phil.3:8.
263. "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."--Phil.3:13,14.
264. We cannot really make a sacrifice.
265. You have to give to get, pour to receive, sow to reap, invest to profit, die to live, bury to resurrect.
266. "The gift of God is eternal life" (Rom.6:23), but it cost Jesus His to give it to you, and it'll probably cost you yours to live it.
267. You'll never appreciate joy until you have known sorrow.
268. The best cure for grief is action.
269. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
270. Sorrow is turned into joy before Him.
271. "Thou wilt show me the path of life. In Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore."--Psa.16:11.
272. "And ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh from you."--Jn.16:22.
273. "As sorrowful yet alway rejoicing."--2Cor.6:10.
274. Only those with great faith like Job, when everything goes wrong and seems contrary to the Word and the usual, only those with great faith can say, "Even though it seems like God is breaking His Own Word with me, even though it seems like God has failed me, even though God kills me contrary to all His promises, I'll still trust Him!"
275. What could be more healing than the Word?
276. "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."--Phil.3:10.
277. Come as wisdom to children,
Come as new sight to the blind,
Come, Lord, as strength to my weakness,
Take me soul, body and mind.
278. To pray when you do not feel like praying is not hypocrisy, it is faithfulness to the greatest duty of life.
279. The quickest way to get back on your feet is to get down on your knees.
280. "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine."--Isa.43:1.
281. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."--1Pe.1:6,7.
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