Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of faith and divine support in overcoming suffering.
Timothy Keller's quote suggests that the experience of suffering can feel overwhelming and intolerable, especially if one lacks the assurance of divine presence and support. Faith in God provides comfort and strength during difficult times, allowing individuals to endure hardships by feeling supported and accompanied through their struggles.
In practice
In discussing the challenges of life, one might say, 'As Timothy Keller noted, suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.'
Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there.
Only in Jesus Christ do we see how the untamable, infinite God can become a baby and a loving Savior. On the cross we see how both the love and the holiness of God can be fulfilled at once.
All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
God's Kingdom is "present in its beginnings, but still future in its fullness. This guards us from an under-realized eschatology (expecting no change now) and an over-realized eschatology (expecting all change now). In this stage, we embrace the reality that while we're not yet what we will be, we're also no longer what we used to be.
Say the truth even if it may be bitter.
The highest purpose of intellectual cultivation is to give a man a perfect knowledge and mastery of his own inner self.
Bewildered is the fox who lives to find that grapes beyond reach can be really sour.
There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you. The criterion is: Have they brought you inner peace?
When you suffer, don't speak. Look inside and listen for the duaa He inspires in you. and then ask Him. Again and again. Don't stop.
The one knowing what is profitable, and not the man knowing many things, is wise.
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