You need to anchor your soul in the compassion demonstrated at the cross and the power demonstrated at the resurrection.

The extent to which you abide in Jesus is measured by your ability to be joyful in all circumstances. If your joy varies based on your succession, your job, or your relationships status, that means you aren’t really abiding in Him—you’re abiding in those things. Whatever controls your joy is what you abide in.

To find satisfaction in His presence with us, even when we have nothing else.

The bottom line is this: We should never give up praying for God’s power to break into our lives, but at the end of the day we rest on the love of God demonstrated at the cross, even if we can’t see how it is being manifested at the moment in our circumstances.

Which is greater? The gap between my four-year-old’s understanding of reality and mine; or, mine and God’s?

God is a better and wiser father to us than we are to our children. Sometimes He says no because He loves us and has a greater plan than we can comprehend at the moment.

The cross also points us to the mysteries of how God works. If there were ever a time when it looked like God was absent and evil was in control, it was when Jesus, the supposed beloved Son of God, was being tortured to death. We know now that there was never a time when God was more in the driver’s seat. He was accomplishing our salvation in that

We must not reinterpret how God feels about us based on our circumstances. The cross settles forever how God feels about us, and the resurrection shows us how much power He is using to bring about His good plan for our lives.

We don’t measure God’s compassion by whether He answers our request like we think He should. We measure God’s compassion by the gospel.