Book Quote: Great Faith

From Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow by Nancy Guthrie (p. 19):

We, too, can learn obedience from what we suffer. Our suffering does not have to be wasted pain. It can take us closer to the heartbeat of God as we pursue obedience in the hard places of life.

As we stop fighting and start welcoming his Holy Spirit....we begin to enjoy an inner strength and rest, a firm confidence that whatever God asks us to endure is purposeful....

What we need most is not to hear God say yes to our requests. What we need is to be filled with such deep confidence in the character of our Father that when he says no, we know he is doing what is right and good for us. What we need most is the faith to trust him.

Some claim that strong faith is defined by throwing our energies into begging God for a miracle that will take away our suffering and then believing without doubting that he will do it. But faith is not measured by our ability to manipulate God to get what we want; it is measured by our willingness to submit to what he wants.