Kristen Wetherell > Quotes

“The reality is that physical or emotional pain, especially when it is chronic, has a way of stripping away the masks we tend to wear, leaving our hearts exposed and our self-sufficient ways of life threatened.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“It's not a dead-end; it's a redirection.”
― Kristen Wetherell

“When we are humbled and completely dependent on the Lord in the wilderness, it teaches us to remember, even in times of comfort and abundance, that it is God’s faithfulness and power, and not our own strength or wisdom, that we most need.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“The fear of the Lord means that we worship him for who he is, not some domesticated shrunk-down version that we’re more comfortable with, but who does not exist and cannot save. God is not a house cat, he is a lion—and while you may love a house cat, you fear a lion. You live in awe of its power, even as you admire its beauty.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“Pain is never pleasant, but nothing can compare to the pain of eternity without God. And so my pain today is a small glimpse of what I have been saved from. How much more can we grasp the beautiful and glorious promise of eternity with our Savior, free from pain, when we have a daily reminder of what we have been saved from? This truth of the gospel gives us a reason, purpose and hope to endure.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“For those who love God—whether that love is great, small, or just clinging on—God works all things together for good. As we grasp this, we realize that the Lord won’t waste a moment of the pain and suffering that often feels pointless and random to us.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“The cross wasn’t a random obstacle; it was a planned objective.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“you. We may experience loneliness on many levels but because he went before us, we will never have to experience the crushing loneliness of separation from God the Father, as he did. Our loving Father sent his own Son down the loneliest road ever known to man so that we would never have to walk any road apart from him.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“We need God’s gospel to suffer well. We need it every day, and never more than when life hurts. The better we know it, and the more we remind ourselves of it, the more precious we will realize it is. Without it, suffering makes no sense (and neither will this book!)—with it, suffering is transformed.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“We may not craft gold and silver into gods, but we do try to control our money for stability and power. We may not fall down and worship statues, but we do worship ourselves and other people. We may not cry out to an immovable object to save us from our troubles, but we do look to what we (think we) can control: people, possessions, and plans.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“Doubt allows fear to grow in its unruly power, but faith chooses to overwhelm it with truth.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“Don’t give up or give way to despair, for there is a glorious treasure to be found when the pain of this world drives us to Jesus, and it is of far greater worth than any earthly relief. Yes, pain and affliction are real in this world. Jesus knows that. But what could crush you can, as you struggle on in faith, be the means of reshaping you.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“If you have trusted Christ to save your soul, even the most dire suffering will not lead you to ultimate destruction, but to the One who went through hell so you would never have to. Suffering will not lead you to hopelessness, but to the God of hope. It will not lead your faith to be shattered, but to an unshakeable hope that is founded on an immoveable Rock: Christ Jesus.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“Do we recognize our helplessness, that even our very desires need to be changed by the Spirit’s transforming grace? Or do we approach Scripture pridefully, thinking we’ve “got this,” attempting to impress God, others, and even ourselves by our obedience? (p. 39).”
― Kristen Wetherell, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word

“Right there is the blessing of true Godward hunger: the more of God we come to know, the more of God we want to know. This doesn’t mean perfection, for all our yearnings in this life will be incomplete until we see Jesus; but it does mean we have endless potential to grow, as we seek more of God and receive the fullness of joy that only he can give (Ps. 16: 11)” (pp. 25-26).”
― Kristen Wetherell, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word

“There is no magic bullet here, only a constant dependence on God’s supernatural help as we put ourselves in the position to receive from him (p. 53).”
― Kristen Wetherell, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word

“If we believe God is sovereign but not good, we’ll wrongly view him as cold and malicious when we face hard circumstances. If we believe God is good but not sovereign, we’ll struggle to trust his authority and his ability to change our circumstances. But as we believe that God is both sovereign and good, we’ll grow in trusting him when we’re afraid.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“God’s words are purposeful, nourishing, and invaluable. They are worth trusting, for God’s words come from God’s heart. We cling to them because God is the only trustworthy, unchanging rock upon which we can stand. And so we keep coming to God’s word, and we keep clinging to the promises we find there (p. 101).”
― Kristen Wetherell, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word

“For if we start to believe that God’s heart and intentions are not good toward us, and we accuse him of acting other than good, whom will we have to run to when future fears come to pass?”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“When nothing seems to make sense in life and you feel yourself being tossed by the waves, you will not be driven onto the rocks of despair as you learn to anchor yourself with Christ’s loving control, perfect wisdom, and unchanging character. Hold firm to the truth of the gospel and your anchor will not fail, and he will bring you into the harbor—however many redirections it requires.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“We fear what we can’t control because we have tried to control it but simply can’t because we are not God.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“God's word feels boring and familiar to us, so we turn to shiny entertainment, putting off eternal things until a more pressing time. The Bible seems too demanding or confusing, so we walk away from it, perpetually discouraged. Its words seem insufficient and sometimes irrelevant, so we look elsewhere to hear from Jesus. We fear falling into a legalistic mindset, so we major on grace and minor on obedience.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word

“Because Jesus is Lord, we don’t have to be. Because Christ is on his throne, ruling all things with perfect wisdom and power, we are freed from the crushing pressure and fearfulness of trying to rule ourselves, other people, and circumstances”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“For too many years, this was the way I approached Scripture, because I didn’t understand my neediness. I thought that by opening my Bible I was seeking something good and right to do, rather than primarily seeking someone to love (p. 39).”
― Kristen Wetherell, Help for the Hungry Soul: Eight Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God's Word

“Only when we are reconciled to God through our Savior and Mediator can we say we’re never alone, even when we’re lonely. Only through our living union with Jesus Christ can we be confident, despite our feelings and circumstances, that he’s with us in the room right now. And only when we’re given a new heart and the promised Holy Spirit—the very presence of Jesus dwelling within us—can we fight fears related to loneliness.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“With Christ, even in losing something good, we lack nothing. With Christ, even in gaining something bad, we have every good thing.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Fight Your Fears: Trusting God's Character and Promises When You Are Afraid

“A perpetual state of anxiety over what is ultimately out of our control comes to dominate our lives. Affliction causes anxiety—and anxiety crushes us as, bit by bit, it sucks the joy and peace from our lives.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“We can easily be defined by our pain and view everything else, including the mercy God gives us, through its dim prism; rather than defining ourselves by God’s mercy, and seeing all else in that glorious light.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“The reality is that no one can fully enter into our pain in the way our Savior can, the only one who knows us intimately and has walked this hard road before us. We are not left to endure the pain of this life in loneliness and our own strength. Rather, we serve a God who bears the physical scars of his love for us, and sympathizes with us as one who has lived as a human being and suffered more than you or I will ever have to know.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope When It Hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering

“Attempting to always make sense of God's mysterious purposes isn't actually faith. It's accepting only parts of God that we are comfortable with or can explain to ourselves.”
― Kristen Wetherell, Hope when it hurts: Biblical reflections to help you grasp God's purpose in your suffering