Topic > When Life Hurts
For His Time
When South African pastor Andrew Murray was visiting England in 1895, he began to suffer pain from a previous back injury. While he was recuperating, his hostess told him of a woman who was in great trouble and wanted to know if he had any counsel for her. Murray said, “Give her this paper which I have been writing for my own [encouragement]. It may be that she will find it helpful.” This is what Murray wrote:
“In time of trouble say:
First—God brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place. In that I will rest.
Next—He…
The View from the Mountain
Our valley in Idaho can be very cold in the winter. Clouds and fog roll in and blanket the ground, trapping frigid air under warmer layers above. But you can get above the valley. There’s a road nearby that winds up the flank of Shafer Butte, a 7,500-foot mountain that rises out of our valley. A few minutes of driving and you break out of the fog and emerge into the warmth and brilliance of a sunlit day. You can look down on the clouds that shroud the valley below and see it from a different point of view.
Life is…
Through It All
God not only created us and knows us, but He is in tune to our every thought and emotion. He is there when we are anxious, excited, nervous, delighted, and heartbroken. He is there, and He understands.
A Widow’s Choice
When a good friend suddenly lost her husband to a heart attack, we grieved with her. As a counselor, she had comforted many others. Now, after 40 years of marriage, she faced the unwelcome prospect of returning to an empty house at the end of each day.
In the midst of her grief, our friend leaned on the One who “is close to the brokenhearted.” As God walked with her through her pain, she told us she would choose to “wear the label widow proudly,” because she felt it was the label God had given her.
All grief is personal, and others…
When our identity gets stripped away
Have you ever been asked to give up something you value for the good of someone else? Can you trust God in the midst of that loss that He will still provide for you? Today on “Discover the Word,” we continue our conversation with friend and author Sheridan Voysey. How do we deal with life when what has formed our identity gets stripped away? Join us for the challenging discussion today on “Discover the Word”!
When your dreams don’t come true
If only dreams came with warning labels saying, “Results may vary!” Then it might be easier to handle the disappointment when they don’t come true. Today on “Discover the Word,” we talk with our friend, author Sheridan Voysey, about what to do when the dreams for your life don’t turn out to have a Disney film ending. Will you still trust that God has your best interests at heart? Don’t miss the discussion today on “Discover the Word”!
Enduring the wilderness experience
Most of us have endured some kind of wilderness experience. And it’s in those times that what’s in our heart gets really tested. Today we welcome special guest, author Sheridan Voysey to the table to begin this week’s discussion called “Resurrection Year.” In difficult times, we may feel like “God has left the building,” especially when our “Why?” questions aren’t getting answered. Join the group today on “Discover the Word”!
The Factory of Sadness
As a lifelong Cleveland Browns football fan, I grew up knowing my share of disappointment. Despite being one of only four teams to have never appeared in a Super Bowl championship game, the Browns have a loyal fan base that sticks with the team year in and year out. But because the fans usually end up disappointed, many of them now refer to the home stadium as the “Factory of Sadness.”
The broken world we live in can be a “factory of sadness” too. There seems to be an endless supply of heartache and disappointment, whether from our own choices or…
4 Ways to Cope with Pain and Loss
One afternoon last December, I received a text message from my former youth pastor asking me to pray for his wife, who was facing complications during delivery. When he called me later to explain the situation in detail, I could sense the tension in his voice.
Good Samaritan gets killed while helping another
A man offers help to another, but in the process, gets shot by the latter and dies. Talk about injustice. But that’s exactly what happened last Friday (22 January) in Catawba County, North Carolina, U.S.
When Questions Remain
On October 31, 2014, an experimental spacecraft broke apart during a test flight and crashed into the Mojave Desert. The copilot died while the pilot miraculously survived. Investigators soon determined what had happened, but not why. The title of a newspaper article about the crash began with the words “Questions remain.”
Throughout life we may experience sorrows for which there are no adequate explanation. Some are catastrophic events with far-reaching effects while others are personal, private tragedies that alter our individual lives and families. We want to know why, but we seem to find more questions than answers. Yet even as…
The Lonely Season
Amid the pile of post-Christmas mail I discovered a treasure—a handmade Christmas card painted on repurposed cardstock. Simple watercolor strokes evoked a scene of wintry hills livened with evergreens. Centered at the bottom, framed by red-berried holly, was this hand-printed message:
Peace be with you!
The artist was a prisoner and a friend of mine. As I admired his handiwork, I realized I hadn’t written to him in 2 years!
Long ago, another prisoner was neglected as he waited in prison. “Only Luke is with me,” wrote the apostle Paul to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:11). “No one came to my support, but everyone…
When I was Angry with God
Have you ever been angry with God because of an illness, a physical disability, poverty, or family problems? I have. Several years ago, I felt some pain in my back, but didn’t think of going to see a doctor.
What Does Jesus Mean to You?
One Tuesday night at Bible Study class, our teacher—after pacing back and forth in his usual manner, with one finger over his lips—looked at us and asked: “What is Jesus to you?”
