Why should I ever resist any delay or disapointment, any affliction or oppression or humiliation - when I know God will use it in my life to make me like Jesus and to prepare me for heaven?

Pain and trials are almost constant companions, but never enemies. They drive me into His sovereign arms. There He takes my disappointments and works everything together for good.

He has held me when I have had no more strength and have wondered how I would ever make it. He has held me when I have felt defeated by all that I had to do. When I have run to my El Shaddai, I have never come away wanting. He is my all-sufficient One. O Beloved, do you understand? Have you experienced Him as your El Shaddai? If not, He is waiting - arms opened wide - for you.

Most of the world around you doesn't read the Bible. So... God gives the world a living epistle- you.

If you'll quit moaning and crying, I'll use the things to make you into someone I can use in the lives of others to show them that no matter where they've been, no matter how deep the hole, no matter how painful the trial, there's hope. There is victory.

Our society is filled with runaways, dropouts, and quitters. The epidemic of walking away has hit our land with effects as devastating as the bubonic plague, and it has destroyed millions of effective lives and relationships. We are so self-centered that we have ceased to lay down our lives for others. We have seen others faint or walk away and we have followed in their weakness. We have fainted when we could have persevered by exchanging our strength for His! With His strength, not only could we have kept on walking, we could have run!

Ultimately, the goal of personal Bible study is a transformed life and a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.