Jamie Rasmussen > Quotes

“Our culture’s way of thinking about and responding to these kinds of situations offers us either soul-sucking pessimism or superficial optimism. There may be some helpful possibilities thrown in, such as “Find the best cancer treatment,” “Send your résumé out and get networking,” “Find the kid a good therapist,” but they still leave many wondering, “Isn’t there more? Isn’t there a better perspective? Where is God in this? Where are the ‘streams of living water’ Jesus talked about?” What if in our thinking we allowed the personal to intersect with the transcendent—we allowed our personal circumstances to intersect with God’s transcendent reality based on his promises? God promises a rich sense of his presence during hard times (see Jesus’s words in Matt. 18:20). He promises divine purpose in the middle of chaos (see Paul’s experience in 2 Cor. 4:16–18). He even promises power when we need it most (see”
― Jamie Rasmussen, How Joyful People Think: 8 Ways of Thinking That Lead to a Better Life

“Our culture’s way of thinking about and responding to these kinds of situations offers us either soul-sucking pessimism or superficial optimism. There may be some helpful possibilities thrown in, such as “Find the best cancer treatment,” “Send your résumé out and get networking,” “Find the kid a good therapist,” but they still leave many wondering, “Isn’t there more? Isn’t there a better perspective? Where is God in this? Where are the ‘streams of living water’ Jesus talked about?” What if in our thinking we allowed the personal to intersect with the transcendent—we allowed our personal circumstances to intersect with God’s transcendent reality based on his promises? God promises a rich sense of his presence during hard times (see Jesus’s words in Matt. 18:20). He promises divine purpose in the middle of chaos (see Paul’s experience in 2 Cor. 4:16–18). He even promises power when we need it most (see Paul’s experience in 2 Cor. 12:7–10). Presence. Purpose. Power. Now we’re getting somewhere. What if our very lives could intersect with those? They can. But we must think about “whatever is true.” We must face God’s transcendent truth in the midst of our personal reality. Here is how it works:”
― Jamie Rasmussen, How Joyful People Think: 8 Ways of Thinking That Lead to a Better Life