Sermon Quotes: "Trusting God in the Darkness"

"Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God." Isaiah 50:10

"Without faith it is impossible to please God for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he is the rewarder of those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 1:6

"There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil."  Job 1:1

"Upon returning to churches in the US after her husband was martyred, Elizabeth Elliot detested the shallow God-justifying platitudes of many who sought to comfort her in her suffering. Their 'answers,' like the answers of Job’s friends were often a means  to prop up and protect their own flimsy faith that couldn’t stand the test of inexplicable suffering.  Because if this abhorrent suffering could happen to her, for no apparent reason, it could happen to THEM!!" Ellen Vaughn

We need to be honest and face the kind of world we live in.  Why does God allow these things?  Why does he do nothing to put these things right?  And why, on the other hand, do people who could not care less about God and justice thrive?  Christopher Ash

"You are always righteous, Lord,when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" Jeremiah 12:1

“I’ve read somewhere that anyone who is not confused is very badly informed.” Elisabeth Elliot

"There is a pain for believers that gives suffering a unique sharpness.  Suffering is the common experience of the human race…And yet suffering touches the believer with a sharper and uniquely piercing pain…The worshipper truly believes God is sovereign.  He or she really believes that the living God is in control of the world.  And so, when suffering comes, it must be God who ultimately sends it – after all, he is in control, is he not?...it is God who is in some sense doing the hurting."
Christopher Ash

"And yet surely God is just, isn’t he?  This is the added pain for the believer living in a world of undeserved suffering.  For undeserved suffering is a threat to the moral foundations of the universe.  Either God is not in control, or he is not fair.  And that causes the believer deep and sharp perplexity." Christopher Ash

"There are believers with a clear conscience, no hidden sin, trusting in God for forgiveness and walking in the light with him, and yet who suffer terribly…It is a problem.  But it is important for us to notice that it is a problem only for the believer." Christopher Ash

"Not that I am (I think) in danger of ceasing to believe in God.  The real danger is in coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not 'so there is no God after all' but 'so this is what God is really like. Deceive yourself no longer.'" C.S. Lewis

"The temptation to doubt does not come in not believing God but in believing what is not God.  The danger is that we press judgment too far and our speculation creates such a distorted picture of God that we cannot continue to believe in good faith." Os Guiness

"Believing the wrong thing is always halfway to believing nothing.  Our misrepresentations of God [become] so pathetically inadequate or monstrously hideous that to believe in him any longer is unnecessary or repugnant." Os Guiness

"Suffering is the most acute trial that faith can face, and the questions it raises are the sharpest, the most insistent, and the most damaging that faith will meet. Can faith bear the pain and still trust God, suspending judgment and resting in the knowledge that God is there, God is good, and God knows best? Or will the pain be so great that only meaning will make it endurable so that reason will be pressed further and further and judgments must be made? But if the Christian's faith is to be itself and let God be God at such times, it must suspend judgment and say, 'Father, I do not understand you, but I trust you.'" Os Guiness

“Turning the thin pages of  [Elisabeth Elliott’s] journals, I knew the end of that story.  The young Elisabeth, writing, did not.  I wanted to warn her, to shout across the decades to prepare for the storm. Get ready!  The hurricane is coming!  It’s mercy that none of us knows what is coming."
Ellen Vaughn

“I belong to God.  He is faithful.  His words are true.  And transformation – the ultimate Springtime – already planted, is coming." Elizabeth Elliot