by Max Lucado
We all have pain. Some sufferings we deserve, but many we do not. Deformities? Death of a child? Wartime atrocities? What do you do with these? Why are some people bitter, angry, and harsh, while others are tender, receptive, and kind? Much of the answer is found in their response to pain.
Scripture makes three clear statements about affliction. First, there is no pain-free option. “In the world you will have tribulation,” Jesus said. (John 16:33 ESV). Second, everyone does something with their pain. Numb it. Obsess over it. Run from it. But thirdly, pain displays God’s glory. We exist to make a big deal out of God. Regarding humanity, God declares, “I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them” (Isaiah 43:7 NLT). And nothing glorifies God greater than faith in the midst of suffering.
God Made Our Brains. He Can Retrain Our Brains.
Stuck in your head? Hounded by regrets? Weighed down by worry? Change is possible! The thoughts that have characterized your past need not characterize the rest of your life.
In Tame Your Thoughts, Max explores three key thought-management tools and then applies them to the most common thought problems: worry, guilt, anxiety, and other types of mental quicksand that threaten to trap us. God loves us too much to let us lead a life marked by poor thinking. He has not left us alone in this battle of the mind.
shared with permission
