Insights for Today

After speaking with a dear friend of mine I was so very well reminded of the pain and suffering that so many people are experiencing today. If you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I want to encourage you to seek Him out. Have questions? Then ask- He wants to answer them for you and He wants to give you hope.
Today I would like to share some excerpts from various devotions from Elizbeth Elliot. If anyone knows pain and suffering, she does. Her husband was murdered by a tribe in Equador to whom he was trying to reach out to in Jesus name. She has an incredible testimony and God has used her in a mighty and powerful way.
Here are some of her words... Many of our prayers are directed toward the quick and easy solution. Long suffering is sometimes the only means by which the greater glory of God will be served, and this is, for the moment invisible. We must persist in faith. God has a splendid purpose. Believe in order to see it. Our troubles are slight and short lived; and their outcome an eternal glory which outweighs them far. Meanwhile our eyes are fixed, not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are unseen (2 Cor.4:17-18).
The Lord who loves you suffered and wants you to fellowship with Himself. The joy of thus knowing Him comes not in spite of but because of suffering, just as resurrection comes out of death. I have a Savior because I am a sinner, and beauty is given to the child of God in exchange for ashes.
We want to avoid suffering, death, sin, ashes. But we live in a world crushed and broken and torn, a world God Himself visited to redeem. We receive His poured out life and, being allowed the high privilege of suffering with Him, may then pour ourselves out for others. How can one's suffering help another? By being offered to Him who can transform it into blessing. You have been granted the privilege not only of believing in Christ but also of suffering for Him (Phil.1:29).