Land of Silence

How can you be so accepting? How is it that you are not screaming with frustration?" "I've been spending more time in prayer. I am learning that obedience to God means that you do not put your eyes on your longings, but instead, you simply place one foot ahead of the other into the space that the Lord opens. Tired, wounded, overwhelmed. It does not matter. You merely keep moving where God directs and stop focusing on what you wish you had. It's teaching me patience.

You must learn to trust him when there is no earthly evidence why you should.

How great an anguish is hope! For when it disappoints, it ruptures old wounds and gouges out new ones, so that you are left worse off than when you began.

He can give it through miracles if he so pleases, or he can use physicians as his instruments of grace. Either way, the power belongs to the Lord.

Your soul can prepare for the plans God has yet to unfold for your life.

Judge not your friend until you stand in

O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

God is mindful of your sufferings, Elianna. He knows every tear you shed. He has not abandoned you. You must try not to abandon him.

One’s own life is always more difficult to manage than the whole world put together.

Like Job I would learn that the Lord was a restorer of fortunes.

We promised to love him even if he withheld the desires of our hearts from us. “The Lord spoke a precious promise through the prophet Jeremiah,” Gamaliel said after concluding his prayers. “‘For I will satisfy the weary soul,’ he said, ‘and every languishing soul I will replenish.’ “You are weary, my children. You are languishing. I want you to understand that the Lord’s

heart accuses him of being. You must come to know him the way the captives in Babylon came to know him. Know him deep in your soul as the One who has plans for you—plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. This is not a lesson that can truly be grasped in our seasons of happiness. You must learn these truths about God in the captivity of suffering and sickness, just as the captives in Babylon had to

sickness in the body, it is not always the case. Nor is lack of faith the only reason the sick are not healed.

Who can understand the mind of God? I know some Pharisees act as though they do. They say sickness is an indication of God’s displeasure. A sign pointing to the stricken man’s sin. A portent of faithlessness and unrepentance.” He shrugged. “It is not so much that these are not valid possibilities. But I think we underestimate God if we believe we can comprehend in full measure his every action. Although sometimes sin can cause

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. PROVERBS 16:9,

I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. PSALM 31:12

I could not push it away. Here was my healing; this man himself was the Balm of Gilead.

hardly breathe. “The master’s eyes softened as he watched her distress. I love to see that look on his face, for I know a miracle is not far. Compassion becomes a weapon of warfare in Jesus’s hands. No heartache can stand

Jesus said, ‘Leave the little ones alone. Don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom belongs to them.’ Then he laid hands on each one and prayed for them. “I have seen him forgive sins, not with mere words that land in your ear like an empty puff of air, but with the power of God. When he proclaims forgiveness, lives change. People turn inside out and become new.

I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. PSALM 119:

Come and buy that which will bring life to your soul. It costs no money to become whole. The famine of your heart can be satisfied the way an empty belly can be filled.

be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes. JEREMIAH 29:11-14

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will

heart rises up to you in a special way, for his intention is to satisfy you. He may yet restore to you the years the locusts have eaten. Do not give in to despair, but trust the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding.” What a peace comes at the end of surrender. What a relief there is when you stop striving against God and the world and yourself.

man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? PROVERBS 18:14

I am no teacher of the Law. But as I recall, one of our greatest prophets, Samuel, once said that to obey is better than sacrifice. Why do you not pray and ask him for his help? Instead of an offering, you can promise him your heart. Your obedience.

besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me.

am the Lord, and there is no other,

For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; They do not set God before themselves. Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life . . . I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he has delivered me from every trouble.