Holding On To Hope

My husband recently interviewed Nancy Guthrie for his show and I got to meet her at her Trusting God conference I attended. Her book called What Grieving People Wish You Knew: What Really Helps and What Really Hurts had such an impact on me. It's one of those books I'll need to read a few times and full of so much wisdom as only one who has walked through suffering can write. Today, I just started reading Holding On To Hope: a pathway through suffering to the heart of God by Nancy Guthrie. Her story of deep loss and the strength of her faith as she wrestled through those bleak times has me riveted. Here are some quotes that have stood out to me so far as I'm reading:

"Where some...see defeat, Nancy finds triumph." ~ Time magazine

"Nancy Guthrie - having experienced deep pain and loss herself - challenges the brokenhearted to move beyond the question "Why?" Don't let your pain be wasted, she urges. Whether you're struggling with the death of a loved one or the death of a dream, embrace your sorrow - and discover its hidden gifts."

From her chapter on worship:

"Surely our worship in the midst of pain and sorrow is particularly precious to God - because it costs us so much. Worship is not made easier, but it becomes all the more meaningful when offered from a heart that is hurting.

The truth is, worship during these times can be some of the most meaningful worship we ever experience. Perhaps we are more fully equipped to worship than ever before because we are acutely aware of our desperate need for God and our own incapacitating weakness. We have our helplessness and inadequacy in proper perspective to God's power and sufficiency.

Do you want to find the heart of God in the darkness of your suffering? In the brokenness of overwhelming grief, would you set aside your feelings of disappointment and confusion - and even anger - and begin to worship God?

When you can't find your own words, would you open to the Psalms and use the words of David in praise and confession and lament?

Would you determine to worship God's worthiness and trust in his faithfulness even when the confusion and disappointment do not immediately disappear?"

From her chapter on suffering: "...God uses painful, difficult experiences of life for our ultimate good!...Early on in my journey, I said to God, "Okay, if I have to go through this, then give me everything. Teach me everything you want to teach me through this. Don't let this incredible pain be wasted in my life!...So I can actually embrace my pain. Would you believe I can thank God for this bitter but rich experience? I can, because I know God is good - that he allows good and bad into our lives and that we can trust him with both...Rather than running from your suffering or trying to pray it away, would you embrace it and look for God in it? Would you allow suffering to be your teacher so that you can learn something from it you never could have learned from comfort and ease? "

"...In our discouragement, we can be tempted to give up on God and stop praying, wondering, What good is it anyway? Sometimes what God has allowed into our lives is so bitter that we're hurt and angry and don't even want to talk to him about it.But where does that leave us? On our own. No resources, no truth to dispel the despair, no hope. The truth is, there is no comfort to be found away from God; at least, there is no lasting, deep, satisfying comfort. Revenge, ritual, retreat - they don't bring any lasting relief from the pain. Only the truth of God's Word, the tenderness of his welcome, the touch of his healing presence bring the kind of comfort we crave. Only his promises of purpose in this life and perfection in the life to come offer us any kind of real hope to hold on to."

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-churchleaders-podcast/id988990685?mt=2&i=377418040

Holding On to Hope: A Pathway through Suffering to the Heart of God https://www.amazon.com/dp/1414312962/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_jbJiyb975KZ98