tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post1444680661672266513..comments2024-03-24T12:24:40.363+11:00Comments on Do not let your hearts be troubled: Is God Good?Peter Stonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896115247438514660noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-16148236958930318902013-09-04T00:14:24.327+10:002013-09-04T00:14:24.327+10:00Hi Dale,
Thanks for sharing these parts of your li...Hi Dale,<br />Thanks for sharing these parts of your life. Glad to hear you are seeing a doctor, you may find that being unable to find/feel God's peace in your life is because of depression. After all the illnesses etc I have been through, nothing has made me feel distant from God like depression has. But please do not despair, for you can learn to respond to it and overcome it so that you can experience life to the full again. Accepting your circumstances, and acknowledging that Jesus is in control of them regardless of how they seem, instead of struggling, fighting or fearing them, is a crucial step. I've also found that a lack of hope makes it hard to stop sinning, but when our hope is restored in Christ, turning from sin is a much easier task.<br /><br />May I encourage you to read the booklet on this blog, for it lists the articles in order.<br />Thanks for sharing the song too, I wrote virtually those same words in diary 'Why do You remain silent?<br />I’ve waited and waited, yet I am met with silence.' <a href="http://members.optusnet.com.au/~stonefamily/STONEFAMILY/WhenIamWeak.pdf" rel="nofollow">Depression Booklet</a><br /><br />I believe that the perceived silence is in fact a result of depression distorting our view of all things, including God. Get stuck into the Word, and be encouraged that it is God speaking to you. May I encourage you to read John and the Psalms.<br /><br />God bless<br />PeterPeter Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896115247438514660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-62622146481471178412013-09-02T12:15:38.576+10:002013-09-02T12:15:38.576+10:00I was raised in a Christian home but didn't re...I was raised in a Christian home but didn't really care for church. I wanted to be lord of my life & really felt that fame & fortune were my goals...I also play the piano. In my late teens, I began to see the futility of this world. I began to seriously consider giving my life to God! One night, I prayed...something I hadn't really done in years, or for all my life. I don't remember the prayer but I do remember getting on my knees & voicing a surrender to Jesus & to the will of God for my life. Nothing really happened...that night I had a dream that the Spirit of God came into me. The next day there was a sense that something was different in my life. Before, I had run from the things of God, now I was hungry to know him & to feel his presence. I longed for the peace of God that passes all understanding. This peace has been very elusive to me! I have seen God move through me, I have seen his wink many times in my life, but after 30 years, I am desperate to know HIM! I believe the good news, I believe in the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world...for my sins. I believe God is good, but with a crushing weight of emptiness & a docket of willful sin in my life, it is sometimes hard to believe in his unconditional love!<br /><br />I have read what you have written about depression & have determined to visit my doctor about this issue. I guess my pride has kept my from this path, also a desire that God would fill me in such a way as to vanquish all hurt & darkness from my life.<br /><br />I would encourage your readers to listen to a song "The Silence of God" by Andrew Peterson. I first heard this song while flying home from California...as I listened over & over, the tears flooded my face & I knew there was an artist who knew what I felt & was transparent enough to record it.<br /><br />Thanks for your transparent site! It has helped me & many others!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11296116615813492832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-50478812363566848112013-03-23T15:52:52.347+11:002013-03-23T15:52:52.347+11:00Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your heartfelt comme...Dear Anonymous,<br />Thank you for your heartfelt comment. A thousand thoughts have fled through my mind in reading it, but you've probably heard everything that I could answer, so I'll only share a few points. <br /><br />I think that one of the greatest stumbling blocks I have seen in many Christians lives, including my own during my first depressive episode, is that we see God as someone who can end our (or others') suffering and yes does not. This of course leads to anger and bitterness. But when we stop asking, "God, please end this suffering!" and instead ask, "Jesus, please lead me through this, and use it for good," our perspective changes completely, and the anger and bitterness is gone. <br /><br />The other two things I would say regarding what you have shared, is that I wonder if deep down, you doubt God's goodness, that He can be trusted absolutely. If you want to shoot me your email (peter7r9stone at gmail.com) I can send you eight enlightening devotionals by Selwyn Hughes that addresses this topic so well. <br /><br />The other point is this - Christ IS enough. Even to be born and have a life of suffering, but to know Jesus, is enough. To know Christ is worth any price at all. This is the purpose of life. "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him [Jesus] whom He has sent." John 6:29. This is God's purpose for you - to believe in and know Jesus intimately. Paul said the same thing: 1 Thessalonians 5:10 He [Jesus] died for us so that, whether we are awake [on earth] or asleep [in heaven], we may live together with him.<br /><br />I hope this can help, and I am praying for you.<br />God bless<br />PeterPeter Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896115247438514660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-61663617343726509142013-03-22T16:41:16.829+11:002013-03-22T16:41:16.829+11:00The comparison of you and the ant farm vs God and ...The comparison of you and the ant farm vs God and His creation begins to help me .... until I go beyond what you and most people do in this line of thinking. I've had the same roadblock all my life.<br />As you said, the ant farm for you was something you chose to be involved with, and when it dried up and all the ants died, you were sad for a while but got over it.<br />God, on the other hand, absolutely knew that mankind would turn from His love and care and that the awful curse of sin would enter the human race. If He didn't know, then H is not all powerful and all-knowing.<br />Because of that, all manner of utter horror has come upon us all. The only difference is degree and how slowly death will overtake us. But before death is heartbreak, sorrow, unavoidable stresses, failures, diseases, accidents, holocausts --- all things that God knew would be coming our way. Along, of course with beauty, a bit of fun, hopefully marriage and family, etc.<br />So why did He create this mess? And if He is truly good (I know -it's some kind of higher good that we'll never understand, I get that, but can't handle it) ... but I happen to question just how good can this be as we casually observe, and indeed, have to live here on earth, never having asked to be born? I for one would rather be left uncreated than to struggle to understand God's love, knowing that any day I could die not having known or "getting" the answer, and then being condemned to Hell. Worse, knowing God could have prevented me from going to Hell by not creating me. It would save Him and all the angels the sorrow of peering over another sad human being who could not receive the fullness of God's love. So sad, but that human must be zapped - even though God knew in advance I wouldn't make it (speaking on behalf of the massive percentage of wordings out here).<br />For those of us who are not mass murderers, but average everyday, caring people, hoping we don't get cancer or die some other hideous death... to consider that God knew of our genuine desire to know Him and His purpose, but that for whatever reason we couldn't grasp it ...then for God to foreordain us to slip away to an awful eternity without Him ... is creepy to think about.<br />I am one who has accepted Christ as my savior but have never known the peace and joy others claim. Like everything else in life - incessantly searching for purpose, dealing with pain and sorrow, unanswered prayers, etc., I take the best option offered - Christianity, but still have extreme doubts about why God bothered to create me. <br />I would rather "non-exist" than deal with the unknown crapshoot that life on earth entails.<br />With Christ in my life for over 50 years, you'd think I'd have a clue to what He is really up to.<br />But that is for the other side of the veil, when I guess it will all make sense.<br />Til then, I'm still stuck on being mad at God, but have taken Him up on His offer to receive Christ. <br />I'm not trying to diminish the price He paid for my sins and the sins of the world - but if I try and try to understand what it al means and still cannot ... is that OK? I know -you will say I am so close to the answer in Jesus. Well....? I believe in grace and that God has a purpose for me and all that - and yet after decades I have not found what that is.<br />I am tormented by so many around me who have "gotten" the gospel and are waiting on tiptoes for me to grasp it too ... yet I disappoint them, God the universe, my wife ... it's a long list.<br />And I would love to grasp it and spread the good news..... but I remain in my depression, paralyzed, as I have been most of my life. In fact, a case can be made that I've been in deeper depression as a Christian, knowing just how much of an abundant life I should have in God, and yet don't.<br />Please pray for me.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-59498858023327420512012-08-31T02:45:51.700+10:002012-08-31T02:45:51.700+10:00Thankyou.Thankyou.Lindanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-90360630686759471692010-03-31T18:08:49.458+11:002010-03-31T18:08:49.458+11:00I love it when you type a new post and in shows up...I love it when you type a new post and in shows up in my inbox email. Never would I have imagined facing the kinds of depression when I first found you blog about a year (approx) ago and now here I am, deep in the hole you refer to so often. I am, in truth, wondering where God is. I've prayed so much and none of what I'm going through makes any sense; I am blessed beyond measure and didn't even face depression when my brother was killed, yet here I am a depressed mom and wife and why???? I face MAJOR insomnia that screws up my schedules, try to stay a loving mother but an exhausted one with forced smiles, and submerge myself into my Photography, yet still keeping it focus on Chist; adding scriptures to most all of the 'Heavens','Imaginative Dreams', 'Memorial/In Memory Of' and all other type of 'fantasy/fairy tale' photo's I work on, even though the lies of the enemy is now beginning to make me question when I type out these scriptures how (if) true they are....I never knew I'd need your blogsite Peter, until recently. I'm going to go back and reread how this all began with you to remind myself what happened. I wish I was on the other side as you are now, but funny how I'm on the other side as you back THEN. Thanks for sharing. Your words and vulnerability is real and keeps me reading hoping to climb the inside of this cave. <br /><br />Blessings to you and your whole family Peter!!<br /><br />~SarahAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17521680021323003843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-3195973083559021352009-10-18T16:25:18.582+11:002009-10-18T16:25:18.582+11:00Our feelings, our perceptions, and our circumstanc...Our feelings, our perceptions, and our circumstances don't change who God is. God is good, and that is just fact. It's amazing how easily we can forget... thank God for His grace.I Testify God is Goodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09434775827872176294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-44590472987011276272009-07-18T12:12:04.990+10:002009-07-18T12:12:04.990+10:00Hi Toia,
Thanks for sharing what you have been goi...Hi Toia,<br />Thanks for sharing what you have been going through. I can relate to your comments about being sick of being sick and tired. Having struggled there greatly myself, I eventually learnt to rest in the knowledge that God is in control, even when it does not look or feel that way. <br /><br />I found great comfort from John 10:27-28, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”<br /><br />God bless :)Peter Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896115247438514660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-71723406101790607182009-07-18T11:01:43.516+10:002009-07-18T11:01:43.516+10:00There are many times when I get frustrated and sic...There are many times when I get frustrated and sick and tired of being sick and tired, I feel like God is supposed to swing some magic wand and make it all better in a quick instant.<br /><br />I want more of the instant gratification verses the delay gratification. But deep down I know every thing is done in God's timing and stand on Prov. 3:5-6.<br /><br />Many times I catch myself thinking with that "modern mindset." And when God brings it to my attention, that's when I read and pray Romans 12:2, Phil. 4:8-9, and Col. 3:2.<br /><br />Thank you so much for this post. It really hit home with me. Blessings to you.Toiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12410215784278599227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-57073598760533014032009-07-17T22:58:01.686+10:002009-07-17T22:58:01.686+10:00Thanks Saleslady371, it has been my pleasure to li...Thanks Saleslady371, it has been my pleasure to lift up your family in my prayers this week.<br /><br />Thanks for the encouragement, Joanne.<br /><br />Your Post Script point is so true, Cheri, and that's a lesson we really need to learn. We are so desperate for things to happen when we want them to.<br /><br />Hi Melinda. I'm reading the Psalms at the moment too. Just finished reading Psalm 77, and wow, there is so much in there. <br /><br />Thanks Silver. What an amazing God we have, that He became one of us, and what He went through to save us. God bless :)Peter Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896115247438514660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-72140009726567663422009-07-17T19:23:23.345+10:002009-07-17T19:23:23.345+10:00i like the part you made an illustration of ants. ...i like the part you made an illustration of ants. How God would do one thing more. He would step in and take all of sufferings upon Himself, becoming one of them and dying in their place so that they could live.Silverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15559987944096301573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-21062036635569676022009-07-16T11:40:28.658+10:002009-07-16T11:40:28.658+10:00I love reading Psalms. David is so honest with Go...I love reading Psalms. David is so honest with God, at times he was crying out, just like we do. "Why have you not come to my aide?" And other times He was remembering the faithfulness of God. One of my favorite verses is Psalms 42:11 "Why are in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God."<br /><br />Thank you for sharing this. I pray that God continues to bless you, and bless others through your writing, and sharing your experiences.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03461866817954215242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-2820571625051483482009-07-15T02:32:58.445+10:002009-07-15T02:32:58.445+10:00I love the point you made about attitude, that we ...I love the point you made about attitude, that we should have the attitude in us that was in Christ Jesus. I just finished a Bible Study of the book of Philippians, and it was of course a central theme of that study. And Oswald Chambers in my devotional this morning made this point: "Never look for right in the other man, but never cease to be right yourself." In other words, we are to extend grace always, and to choose to live without expectation, so that we don't have to question the hearts of others or the goodness of God.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing,<br />Cheri<br /><br />PS - I must clarify... we must always trust and expect God to be true to His faithful character, BUT we do not hold Him to our time table in doing so!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12298890660755610835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-80491660230769583302009-07-15T02:32:23.580+10:002009-07-15T02:32:23.580+10:00This is excellent. So many need to hear this! Wow....This is excellent. So many need to hear this! Wow. Going to check out your other blog.Joanne Sherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03892365662470655717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-15560496811694426052009-07-15T01:32:35.238+10:002009-07-15T01:32:35.238+10:00You put it all in proper perspective here for me, ...You put it all in proper perspective here for me, dear brother. This is a time I must learn a deeper level of trust and deal with the sin of fear, too. Thank you for your prayers. I'm grateful.Saleslady371https://www.blogger.com/profile/15962608799409882219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-50649323443006086642009-07-14T22:43:27.001+10:002009-07-14T22:43:27.001+10:00Hi JBR, I know what you mean. And amen, our God tr...Hi JBR, I know what you mean. And amen, our God truly is good. God bless you heaps today :)<br /><br />Thanks for sharing your thoughts Andrea, and you are not alone. I have often struggled with that very issue, as I am sure most Christians have.<br /><br />Hi Rosel, a painful process indeed, and not one I volunteered to go through, LOL. I remember back in the old days when I used to joke with my friends, "God, please give me patience and give it to me right now!" If only it were so easy...but, it was certainly worth it in the end.Peter Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896115247438514660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-65323017624457600512009-07-14T22:25:34.499+10:002009-07-14T22:25:34.499+10:00"One problem is our modern mindset - we have ..."One problem is our modern mindset - we have forgotten what it means to wait." - How often do we become impatient when we are waiting for answered prayers? We forget that God's timetable is not like ours. It was a painful process that you had gone through but I know that you have learned a lot, especially "becoming patient". And you learned to endure...<br />That's great that you have another blog - wow! a Bible study through the blogosphere! Yay! God bless you and your family.RCUBEshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03726426726039665564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-28744660419623046052009-07-14T21:38:07.251+10:002009-07-14T21:38:07.251+10:00It is terribly difficult for me to wait on answers...It is terribly difficult for me to wait on answers from GOD, sometimes.<br />AndreaAndreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082891172963869545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-19655250005777407822009-07-14T19:15:50.873+10:002009-07-14T19:15:50.873+10:00Yes, God is good, regardless of circumstance! Har...Yes, God is good, regardless of circumstance! Hard to swallow at times, but He is good!!<br /><br />Thank you Peter once again sharing your heart dear one.<br /><br />Blessings!Just Be Realhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15815210059310140144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-4575431123608847382009-07-14T18:26:03.876+10:002009-07-14T18:26:03.876+10:00That's amazing Shane. I've been working on...That's amazing Shane. I've been working on this post for a few weeks, and finally finished it today. And thanks so much for honoring this blog again. God bless :)<br /><br />Hi Seema, you are very welcome. I've struggled through several drafts of this post when suddenly at midnight last night, it all came together.Peter Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896115247438514660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-3702056300751686132009-07-14T14:59:17.262+10:002009-07-14T14:59:17.262+10:00Peter, once again you've taken the thoughts sw...Peter, once again you've taken the thoughts swirling in my mind and conveyed them on the screen. Thank you.Seemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01989378362618720825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3015299104362685233.post-18271096617395218832009-07-14T13:18:44.401+10:002009-07-14T13:18:44.401+10:00Wow! I've been thinking about these same idea...Wow! I've been thinking about these same ideas all day. Thank you so much for putting it all down on words. I'll be sending some people over... =)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com