Suffering
This summer I watched the movie Miracle from Heaven. It is based on a true "Life is a lot" family experience with a very ill child.
A few days after this an email came from Billy Graham Ministries on the topic of "Why do Christians suffer?"
"Rest assured that there is a reason for Christian people being afflicted. One reason why God’s people suffer, according to the Bible, is that it is a disciplinary, chastening, and molding process. From the Scriptures we learn that the chastening of affliction is a step in the process of our full and complete development. Affliction can also be a means of refining and of purification. Many a life has come forth from the furnace of affliction more beautiful and more useful than before."
PRAYER FOR THE DAY
"Lord, whatever I have to face, through it let me learn more of Your love and compassion. " BGM
Years ago, a very close friend was in a drug induced coma and her husband asked a few of us to visit her regularly and talk to her in hopes she would be encouraged hearing our voices. I took a Bible to the hospital and a highlight and suggested the other friends join me in reading God's Word to her. We would highlight the passages we read.
I've mentioned a friend whose mother has fought a valiant battle against ovarian cancer. Her last days have been difficult to watch, so I put together scriptures to encourage a grieving heart. I suggested my friend select a specific color highlighter and in these days of waiting and the times of grief to come she select some verses to highlight in her Bible as a reminder God knows life is full of suffering and aching hearts.
Below are the verses. You may want to print them off and stick them in your Bible. May they encourage you in some way as well.
Love, Boo
The Song
“Why God” Austin French
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv_Pf7bDZj4&list=RDiv_Pf7bDZj4&start_radio=1
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Psalm 9:9
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2
For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. Psalm 18:28
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. …Psalm 23:1-6
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:4-5
Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. Psalm 31:9-10
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. Psalm 46:1-2
That this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. Psalm 48:14
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Psalm 56:8
From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15
My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! Psalm 119:28
I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. Psalm 142:2
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. Psalm 119:50
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing… Ecclesiastes 3:1-14
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:8
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Isaiah 41:13
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremaigh 33:3
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. John 10:27-29
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1
In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. John 14:2-4
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. John 14:16
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. John 16:20
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33
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
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28-30
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... Romans 8:31-39
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ….1 Corinthians 15:52-57
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 2 Corinthians 1:5
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:6-8
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. … 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4