Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Anguish’ Category

Six (6) steps through difficulty – #3

Posted in Anguish, Assurance, Belief, Choice, Christ, tagged on February 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo

Difficulties put focus in the wrong place — how I feel, what I didn’t get, what they did to me, why God didn’t meet my expectations! The “I”, “My”, and “Me” focus gets nowhere peacefully.

Psalm 37 gives six(6) action steps to getting out of that swirl and moving on to something better. First on the list is letting go of the burn.1 The second act is deciding to trust God by getting up and doing the right thing.2. Third step:

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” — Psalm 37:4

This one comes with a lovely promise! Who is going to give me what I really want if I don’t? God.

Doing this means several things. It means relinquishing both the control and the result to God. It means putting focus on him and what he wants, and it means being pliable. The word translated here as “Delight” literally means to be soft, pliable, delicate.

What if my heart’s desires are selfish, vengeful, and ungodly? If we are pliable God can change that and mold our hearts to desire what is good.

The ancient philosopher, St. Augustine, living in the first century discovered this very thing and wrote the famous line, “Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.”

Step #3 – Let your heart be pliable in God’s hands.

— fritz
1. Step #1 – Fret not, 02/21/2013
2. Step #2 – Trust and do good, 02/22/2013

Read Full Post »

3 Kinds of Tears

Posted in Anguish, Christ, tears, tagged , , , , on September 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I think there are three kinds of tears:

  • tears of sorrow;
  • tears of gratitude;
  • tears of joy.

I’m not convinced the third can be experienced without the first two, but I am convinced if we seek Him with the first we’ll find the others soon after.

“…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” — Psalm 30:5b

Read Full Post »

Maybe God Allows Personal Anguish Because…

Posted in Anguish, Explanations, Frant, Laubach, Quotes on February 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“Someone was telling me this week that nobody can make a violin speak the last depths of human longing until that soul has been made tender by some great anguish. I do not say it is the only way to the heart of God, but I must witness that it has opened an inner shrine for me which I never entered before.”

— March 15, 1930
Frank Charles Laubach (September 2, 1884 – June 11, 1970) Evangelical Christian missionary to the Philippines, founder of the “Each One Teach One” literacy program used to teach about 60 million people to read in their own language, and the only American missionary honored by a US Postage Stamp.

Letters by a Modern Mystic (p. 18). Purposeful Design Publications. Kindle Edition.

Read Full Post »