Sickness, in the very nature of things, can never be anything but trying to our flesh. Our bodies and souls are strangely linked together, and that which vexes and weakens the body can hardly fail to vex the mind and soul. But sickness, we must always remember, is no sign that God is displeased with us; no, more, it is generally sent for the good of our souls. It tends to draw our affections away from this world, and to direct them to things above. It sends us to our Bibles, and teaches us to pray better. It helps to prove our faith and patience, and shows us the real value of our hope in Christ. It reminds us that we are not to live always, and tunes and trains our hearts for our great change. Then let us be patient and cheerful when we are laid aside by illness. Let us believe that the Lord Jesus loves us when we are sick no less than when we are well.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 2, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 257-258. {John 11:1-6}

It seemed to me that God had looked over the whole world to find a man who was weak enough to do His work, and when He at last found me, He said, "He is weak enough- he’ll do." All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them. - J. Hudson Taylor (when someone complimented him on founding the China Inland Mission)

Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is.- Thomas Szasz

We pilgrims walk the tightrope between earth and heaven, feeling trapped in time, yet with eternity beating in our hearts. Our unsatisfied sense of exile is not to be solved or fixed while here on earth. Our pain and longings make sure we will never be content, but that’s good: it is to our benefit that we do not grow comfortable in a world destined for decay.- Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven: Your Real Home, Zondervan, www.Zondervan.com, 1995, p. 112.

Sin is not misfortune; sin is not error or ignorance. Sin is a choice against what you know pleases God. If you lose this meaning of sin, you lose the beauty of forgiveness.- Robert H. O’Bannon