Companions in Suffering: Comfort for Times of Loss and Loneliness by Wendy Alsup

I recently finished reading Companions in Suffering: Comfort for Times of Loss and Loneliness by Wendy Alsup.
While I really enjoyed the entire book, these quotes in particular stood out to me.

"We don’t need to try to be the hero in our own story. God is the hero—we need only receive. And often God will use others as his hands and feet to provide exactly what we need. Receive from others, and as you do, you receive from the Lord."
(Kindle edition, location 62)

"In Luke 9 (and in Matthew 10:38-39 and Luke 14: 27), Jesus didn’t instruct his disciples to shake off the weight of their crosses in order to better serve him. Instead, he said to take up the weight and follow him anyway. Jesus invited his disciples to follow him, weights of suffering and all. And the rest of the New Testament presents suffering not as a rare event a few believers will experience but as the Christian norm as we live in faith in a world sorely affected by the fall."
(Kindle edition, location 215)

"Why is it that those who have not suffered intensely do not have enduring encouragement to offer those who have? Because, according to Paul, suffering itself is the conduit to the very ability to comfort."
(Kindle edition, location 455)

"Suffering feels keenly unfair when it seems to leave us paying the consequences of a sin someone else committed."
(Kindle edition, location 704)

"The first chapter of Job begins by pulling back the curtain in the heavens on a discussion occurring between God and Satan. From that discussion I gathered my first weapon against the prosperity gospel that sufferers must put to death. It is a nugget of sustaining truth every believing sufferer needs to know: You did not bring this on yourself."
(Kindle edition, location 1269)

"In grace our Father in heaven eternally preserved the story of Job for all who suffer in Christ today. God truly has not left us as orphans to walk our path of suffering alone. As we sit with Job in his tent of suffering and listen to his lament, we are freed from the dangerously deceptive heresy of the prosperity gospel that has us worshiping the gifts rather than the Giver."
(Kindle edition, location 1395)

"Job was a righteous man, and his suffering wasn’t because of his sin but to show the worthiness of God to Satan and the heavenly realm."
(Kindle edition, location 1398)

"This very perseverance in seasons of silence without seeing God’s solution is the essence of faith."
(Kindle edition, location 1815)

"When we have suffered in one area, I’m convinced we become more attuned to suffering in others."
(Kindle edition, location 2049)

"We should feel its cumulative effect as suffering outside us adds to the pain of the suffering inside us. This is natural. We were not created for divorce court, hospitals, or funeral homes. We should not make peace with them."
(Kindle edition, location 2051)


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Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ by Andy Naselli and J. D. Crowley

I recently finished reading Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ by Andy Naselli and J. D. Crowley.
While I really enjoyed the entire book, these quotes in particular stood out to me.

"The conscience is a gift for your good and joy, and it is something that God—not your mother or father or anyone else—gave you."
(Kindle edition, page 25)

"Conscience is all about right or wrong, black or white. It doesn’t do gray scale very well. It doesn’t nuance."
(Kindle edition, page 25)

"Because conscience wants to make such stark pronouncements, it is of utmost importance that you align your personal conscience standards with what God considers right and wrong, not just with human opinion. Otherwise, your conscience will pronounce guilty verdicts on matters of mere opinion."
(Kindle edition, page 26)

"You cannot, must not, force others to adopt your conscience standards."
(Kindle edition, page 26)

"As we come to understand God’s revealed will more and more, we will have opportunities to add rules to our conscience that God’s Word clearly teaches and weed out rules that God’s Word treats as optional. This will take a lifetime, but we have the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and the church of God to help us."
(Kindle edition, page 28)

"Of all the principles related to conscience, two rise to the top: (1) God is the only Lord of conscience, and (2) you should always obey your conscience."
(Kindle edition, page 30)

"Whenever 'obey conscience!' collides with 'obey God!,' 'obey God!' must come out on top—every time."
(Kindle edition, page 31)

"As a general rule, you should assume that your conscience is reliable, even if it isn’t perfect. And since conscience is usually right, the Bible says that we should do what our conscience says until we are convinced from Scripture that it needs adjusting."
(Kindle edition, page 60)

"We must never allow the conscience of others to determine our own conscience. But we must always consider the conscience of others when we determine our own actions."
(Kindle edition, page 111)


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Thoughts on Prayer

What is prayer? At the most basic level, prayer is communication with God. So the question is, do you talk to God? Not just during set prayer times at church. Not just running down a list of requests you have as if you are putting in a grocery order. But really talking to God because He is and He cares about you. If you don't think that you pray very regularly, why not? Do you feel like you need to couch what you are saying to Him in special phrases and words? Why? He already knows what you are thinking. You might as well be honest with Him.

Does God talk to you? I don't mean this in a mystical sense; however, God has given us His word because He wants to communicate with us. You might wish that God would speak to you through other means, but His word is something concrete. And, we can go back to it over and over again.

As you consider these things, I challenge you to take one step forward in your relationship with God. Pick something actionable and tangible. Maybe it's setting aside time for prayer at a certain time of day. Or even while doing a certain activity. I personally find myself frequently talking to God while I'm driving. If you struggle to pick something or to follow through with it, ask God for help. He wants you to grow in your relationship with Him. Ask Him to help you. Don't do this because you feel guilted into it or because you want to be proud of yourself or because you think you will gain favor with God by this. None of those things are true or will help you grow well. Seek to grow your relationship with God because the God of the universe cares about you. Yes, you. God loves you.

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More Love to Thee

More love to thee, O Christ,
more love to thee!
Hear thou the prayer I make
on bended knee;
this is my earnest plea:
more love, O Christ, to thee,
more love to thee,
more love to thee!

Once earthly joy I craved,
sought peace and rest;
now thee alone I seek,
give what is best;
this all my prayer shall be:
more love, O Christ, to thee,
more love to thee,
more love to thee!

Let sorrow do its work,
send grief and pain;
sweet are thy messengers,
sweet their refrain,
when they can sing with me:
more love, O Christ, to thee,
more love to thee,
more love to thee!

Then shall my latest breath
whisper thy praise;
this be the parting cry
my heart shall raise;
this still its prayer shall be:
more love, O Christ, to thee,
more love to thee,
more love to thee!

- by Elizabeth Prentiss

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