Streams in the Desert



I am a christian. Despite depression I have managed to hold onto my faith. No matter what is going on, I can usually, not always, manage to:

 1. get up every morning
2. write in my journal
3. read my bible
4. pray
5. read my 'Streams in the Desert'

 'Streams in the Desert' is my favourite book of devotions. It is now available daily online.

Why does this book mean so much to me? Because it brings meaning to suffering. It makes me think that maybe there is PURPOSE IN PAIN. It gives me hope that my own suffering is not some cosmic error and a waste of time.Unknown Object

 Here are some of my favourite passages:
"Here is the secret of divine all-sufficiency,
 to come to the end of everything in ourselves
 and in our circumstances. 
When we reach this place, 
we will stop asking for sympathy 
because of our hard situation or bad treatment, 
for we will recognize these things
 as the very conditions of our blessing,
 and we will turn from them to God 
and find in them a claim upon Him."
"I had never known" said Martin Luther's wife 
"what such and such things meant,
 in such and such psalms, 
such complaints and workings of the spirit; 
I had never understood the practice of Christian duties,
had not God brought me under some affliction."
"If you are in the deep shadows
 because of some strange mysterious providence, 
do not be afraid. 
Simply go on in faith and love, 
never doubting. 
God is watching, and He will bring good
 and beauty out of all your pain and tears."
"So suffering is rough and hard to bear; 
but it hides beneath it discipline, education, possibilities,
 which not only leave us nobler,
 but perfect us to help others. 
Do not fret, or set your teeth, 
or wait doggedly for the suffering to pass;
 but get out of it all you can, 
both for yourself and for your service to your generation, 
according to the will of God."
"Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character.
 The great object of this life is character. 
This is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity...."

 These kinds of thoughts help me. Believing that God means suffering for my good, not for my harm, helps me. I know these are noble thoughts and on a really bad day, it's difficult to hear such stuff, but still... it helps me. 

 WHAT ABOUT YOU? What helps you?

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