Renee Masterson Young’s Reviews > The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering > Status Update
Renee Masterson Young
is on page 59 of 200
“It seems counterintuitive that the high points of my relationship with God would be connected to the low points in my circumstances. But the ways of God are often not what I expect. Perhaps only when I am truly desperate can I hear the Lord’s still, small voice. Perhaps suffering and sorrow are God’s invitation to know him better” (57).
Risner has written a truly comforting & relatable book here. Thankful!
— Apr 22, 2026 06:27PM
Risner has written a truly comforting & relatable book here. Thankful!
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Renee’s Previous Updates
Renee Masterson Young
is on page 76 of 200
“Don’t look back on the past & assume it was perfect. It wasn’t. Mine wasn’t perfect, either. This new road that I am on, bumpy and twisty as it may be, is the path God has chosen for me. It is the best road. The only one worth taking. If I keep looking back on the old way longingly, focusing on what I’ve lost rather than on what I have, I will miss the rewards of the new path. I need to open my eyes” 74
— Apr 30, 2026 12:53PM
Renee Masterson Young
is on page 40 of 200
“I can show the surpassing worth of Christ when I suffer well—when I joyfully accept circumstances that are less than perfect, when I give up my need to control. Willingly relinquishing my need to have things exactly as I want is an act of worship” (38).
This book is challenging me more than I anticipated. I thought this’d be a memoir of lessons from Risner, but lo! it is more! It’s shaping my own heart.
— Apr 16, 2026 01:01PM
This book is challenging me more than I anticipated. I thought this’d be a memoir of lessons from Risner, but lo! it is more! It’s shaping my own heart.
Renee Masterson Young
is on page 32 of 200
The world is “focusing on the cause of this man’s disability while Jesus spoke to the purpose behind it” (29). Our suffering is always significant, always shaping us. Suffering, for the believer, is not “a punishment or even random misfortune. It had been planned all along by God” (30).
I will praise God in my weakness. I thank God for my pain as it brings me to his feet when I’m so prone to run away.
— Apr 13, 2026 12:51PM
I will praise God in my weakness. I thank God for my pain as it brings me to his feet when I’m so prone to run away.
Renee Masterson Young
is starting
“Suffering is a strange, dark companion; but a companion, nonetheless. It’s an unwelcome visitor; but still, a visitor. Affliction is a bruising of a blessing; but it is a blessing from the hand of God. It is how God meets us in our suffering.”
-Joni (in foreword)
— Apr 09, 2026 03:43PM
-Joni (in foreword)
