-My grace is sufficient for you, My strength made perfect in your weakness
-to live is Christ, to die is gain - Paul
-"Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
-Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care.
-Psalm 130: 7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
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The Lord is the only One who sustains us. If He allows bad things to happen, we just have to keep trusting that He is good. This passage below to me, just really reflects the heart of God for us:
Isaiah 61 King James Version (KJV)
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
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We don't fully understand God's ways but we have seen in so many examples how God uses wickedness/the wicked to accomplish His plans, like how when Jesus was crucified, it appeared that wickedness had won the day and the disciples felt that they'd lost all hope.... but in fact it was a triumph for God's purposes! He is still on the throne, He is in control, and not an ounce of wickedness can occur without His allowing it. And since we know He's good, we can trust that His allowing of wickedness is not for no reason. This tells me we needn't fear wickedness or the wicked, but fear Him. This life is not all there is, and death is but a comma on the page, not a full stop. We have hope for that because of Christ's resurrection from the dead.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Prov 9:10
"The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure."- Jesus
