Vaneetha Rendall Risner > Quotes

“Life is full of pain. Sometimes God miraculously delivers us. When he does, we rejoice and give him glory. He makes all things new and brings beauty from ashes. Sometimes we aren’t delivered, but he gives us true contentment in our circumstances, so the world can see his peace and satisfaction. And sometimes he leaves us with a constant ache, a reminder that this world is not our home, and we are just strangers passing through. This”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“The Bible is shockingly honest. And because of that, I can be honest as well. I can both complain and cry, knowing that God can handle anything I say. The Lord wants me to talk to him, to pour out my heart and my thoughts unedited because he knows them already. Navigating”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“This is the most precious answer God can give us: wait. It makes us cling to him rather than to an outcome. God knows what I need; I do not. He sees the future; I cannot. His perspective is eternal; mine is not. He will give me what is best for me when it is best for me.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“Replacing “what if ” with “even if ” in our mental vocabulary is one of the most liberating exchanges we can ever make. We trade our irrational fears of an uncertain future for the loving assurance of an unchanging God. We see that even if the very worst happens, God will carry us. He will still be good. And he will never leave us.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“I’ve often been devastated when he tells me no, but as I submit to his will in those situations—even with disappointment and tears—he assures me he’s working for my good. I see only part of the picture. He has a purpose in his denials. The Father said no to the Son [in Gethsemane]. And that no brought about the greatest good in all of history. God is not capricious. If he says no to our requests, he has a reason—perhaps ten thousand. We may never know the reasons in this life, but one day we’ll see them all. For now, we must trust that his refusals are always his mercies to us.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“Lamenting keeps us engaged with God. When we lament, we invite God into our pain so that we can know his comfort, and others can see that our faith is real. Our faith is not a façade we erect to convince ourselves and others that pain doesn’t hurt—it is an oak tree that can withstand the storms of doubt and pain in our lives, and grow stronger through them.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“Contentment that is borne out of suppressing our longings leads to empty platitudes at best and bitter hypocrisy at worst. We all have longings. Crying out to God to fulfill them or change them or give us the strength to endure them strengthens our faith. Denying our longings under the guise of contentment may keep us from pain, may look more spiritual, and may make us less emotional, but it can lead to spiritual deadness.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“It is as though suffering is a strange sort of gift from God, a gift that we reluctantly receive and constantly want to give back. But it has extraordinary power to change us. It changes our outlook, our faith, our walk with God.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“So what do we do when we feel drained and empty? When no one understands our suffering and no one seems to care? When we feel discouraged and tired and unbearably lonely? Read the Bible and pray. Read the Bible even when it feels like eating cardboard. And pray even when it feels like talking to a wall. Does it sound simple? It is. Does it also sound exceedingly hard? It is that as well. But reading the Bible and praying is the only way I have ever found out of my grief. There are no shortcuts to healing.

When I say read, I don’t mean just reading words for a specific amount of time. I mean meditating on them. Writing down what God is saying to me. Asking God to reveal himself to me. Believing God uses Scripture to teach and to comfort me. To teach me wonderful things in his law (Ps. 119:18). To comfort me with his promises (Ps. 119:76). Reading this way changes cardboard into manna. I echo Jeremiah who said, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” ( Jer. 15:16).”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“Our faith is not a facade we erect to convince ourselves and others that pain doesn’t hurt—it is an oak tree that can withstand the storms of doubt and pain in our lives, and grow stronger through them.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“Though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will never walk alone.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“fulfillment of God’s kingdom. But one day he would. One day he would see his glorious part in God’s magnificent plan. He, the last of the old covenant prophets, would see how God used him to prepare the world to receive Jesus.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“(Ex. 34:6–7).”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“I don’t like living with scarcity. I don’t like having just enough to meet my needs. I don’t like being dependent. It makes me feel vulnerable. In my economy, I want a full oil flask and overflowing flour jar. I want to see exactly how and when God will provide for my needs. I want a guarantee I can independently verify. That’s because, deep down, I’d rather depend on myself than on God. Though I want to serve him with my whole heart, trusting him in the dark can be frightening; it’s far easier when the future looks bright. I’d rather praise God for his abundant provision than daily depend on him to meet my basic needs.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering

“When pain overwhelms me, I long for companionship. I want someone to talk to me, weep with me, sit with me. I want someone to put human flesh on God’s comfort. That may sound unspiritual to some people. It always sounded faintly unspiritual to me. It seemed weak to want comfort from other people. I thought that if God alone were sufficient to meet my every need, I should never want anyone else.”
― Vaneetha Rendall Risner, The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering