Sermon Illustrations

Tag: pain

  • When “I’ll pray for you” is bad

    When a person is going through this kind of terrible depression, some believers don’t know how to respond. They say, “I’ll pray for you”, which may mean, “I’m no longer listening to you.” That can be a way of ending one’s responsibility to shoulder the load. In fact when it comes to bearing one another’s…

  • Lying about hurt

    There was once a man driving along the road and he was involved in an accident with another car towing a horse float. A few months later he tried to claim damages for his injuries, but the insurance company lawyer questioned his claim. “How can you now claim to have all these injuries?” he was…

  • Pain and hope

    Pain and hope are strange companions, but great companions. In Good to Great,  Jim Collins said the chief job of leaders is to never lose hope AND name the reality they’re facing, no matter how brutal it is. He called it the Stockdale Paradox, quoting from POW Jim Stockdale: You must never ever ever confuse,…

  • Seeing pain more clearly

    Now I see pain more clearly. Pain is not the enemy. False beliefs are the enemy. Lies are the enemy. We can waste years running from pain and avoiding difficult truths about ourselves. But when we get clarity around our pain, we can pursue the healing we need. We can stop fearing pain and begin…

  • Restoring clarity

    Philip Yancey described it like this, For me Jesus has become the focal point of faith and increasingly I am learning to keep the magnifying glass of my faith focused on him. In my Spiritual journey I have long lingered over the margins, puzzling over matters like the problem of pain, the conundrum of prayer,…

  • Hurt people

    Hurt people hurt people. Broken people break people. Shattered people shatter people. Damaged people damage people. Wounded people wound people. Bound people bind people. But… Hurt people hurt people, but helped people help people. Broken people break people, but rebuilt people build people. Shattered people shatter people, but whole people restore people. Damaged people damage…

  • When pain outweighs shame…

    When our pain outweighs our shame, then we are ready for change. As she brought her sin into the light, the love of God wondrously washed over her, and she went home with the hope and faith to be open and honest with her husband. Late that night, she shared the experience with her husband.…

  • Uncomforted pain

    But uncomforted pain can leave a wound for a lifetime. No matter how well your earthly father may have provided for you, even if you lived in a large home, wore the nicest clothing, and ate the best food, if you didn’t feel protected, comforted, or safe in his presence, you may never feel safe…

  • Stretch spiritual muscles

    Anyone who has ever performed physical exercise knows that there is little profit to exercising until your body feels a degree of pain. If you wake up the morning after exercising and you are not sore, you realize that the exercise only maintained your current condition. The same principle applies to your spiritual growth. If…

  • Forgiveness is the key…

    Forgiveness is the key that will unlock the closet in which all kinds of confusion, anguish, bitterness, rejection and pain are hidden away. Sid RothClick to TweetWebsite: http://sidroth.org/articles/forgiving-unforgiveness