Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not (p. 86). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) My dad was a very special man and he had a lot of practical statements that he would share over and over.   One of them was, “A short pencil is better than a long memory.”   That is what Craig is saying here. He says, “I’ll be wrestling with something I don’t understand and praying about it. ‘God, are you there? What’s going on? What do you want me to do in this situation? What are you up to?’ “Then I often feel like God shows me something, provides direction or speaks to my heart. I’ve learned to write it down, because inevitably, a few days later, I’ll be thinking about it again, and I might talk myself out of it. ‘Well, I don’t know. Maybe it was that late-night snack. Just some divinely inspired indigestion.’ So I begin to doubt what I knew with certainty only a couple

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not (p. 63). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) He is not like some fathers, some mothers, some bosses, and even some preachers. Craig says, “He may not answer in an audible, booming voice. (Most likely, he won’t.) But he isn’t angry with us when we do ask. It’s not as if he’s going to storm out of the room when we throw a tantrum. He understands. Even as we’re pouring out our emotions, he wants to draw us closer to himself.   We have his permission to speak freely. “Sometimes I think we’re afraid of expressing our questions not because we’re worried about God’s response but because we’re worried about our own. We’re afraid to say what we’re feeling, deep down in the dark corners of our souls. We’re terrified that if we admit how we’re truly feeling, then our faith will crack. But the opposite is true. It’s when we suppr

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not (p. 61). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Craig goes on to say, “Love does. An embrace does.” He goes on, “That’s the beauty and power of the incarnation. God didn’t shout his love from heaven. He showed us his love on earth as he became one of us in the person of his Son Jesus. When someone is in the valley, rather than trying to explain what’s happening, sometimes we are better off listening. Rather than preaching, we focus on loving. And in those moments of quiet presence, God often reveals himself in ways that go beyond our human ability to understand. “Unless our own suffering draws us closer to God, it’s hard to offer genuine compassion—and hope—to others. When we aren’t connected to others’ pain, it’s tempting instead to offer them bumper sticker platitudes and pat answers designed to keep our own fragile fa