Encanto

  

1. GOD DOESN’T CALL THE QUALIFIED, HE QUALIFIES THE CALLED.

  

And HE (God) chose the powerless to shame those who are powerful.

-1 Corinthians 1:27

  

2. THERE IS PURPOSE IN YOUR PAIN

  

The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.

-Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion

Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.

-Tim Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

  

1. PAIN IS INEVITABLE!

  

In this world you will have trouble.

-John 16:33

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

-2 Corinthians 11:23-28

  

2. MISERY IS OPTIONAL

  

1. Pain Can Draw You Closer to God

  

I am glad...not because it hurt you but because the pain turned you to God.

-2 Corinthians 7:9

We were crushed and overwhelmed...and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us...and he did help us!

-2 Corinthians 1:8-10

  

2. Pain Can Draw You Closer to Others

  

By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ.

-Galatians 6:2

  

3. Pain Can Make You More Like Jesus

  

Now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart.

-2 Corinthians 7:11

The main thing God gets out of your life is not the achievements you accomplish. It's the person you become.

-Dallas Willard

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

-James 1:2-4

  

3. WE ARE PRODUCTS OF THE PAST, BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO BE PRISONERS OF IT

  

Make A Decision