Remember

When you are going through hardship, you don’t need pious platitudes or silly sayings. You need the Word of God. That alone resonates. That alone gives hope. That alone resounds in your soul. And, quite frankly, not only do those other things fail to help, but they sometimes hurt. When we try to think of something clever or insightful to say that isn’t based on what Scripture says, it can be very unhelpful, to say the least.

Even if you have been a Christian for awhile and have studied the Word of God—or even preached the Word of God—it doesn’t mean that you cannot forget it on occasion. That is why Peter, in one of his epistles, wrote that he wanted to stir up the people’s memory by reminding them of certain things (see 2 Peter 3:1).

Sometimes there are things I have preached on that I need to be reminded of. I find that I often forget what I ought to remember and remember what I ought to forget. The only way to overcome this is to constantly go over those things I have learned and read and reread and recall them.

A classic example of this is the two discouraged disciples on the Emmaus Road. A stranger began walking with them, but they did not know it was Jesus. He took them through the passages in the Old Testament that pointed to the suffering and death of the Messiah. Afterward, they said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).

The way you will be able to resolve your doubts, the way your heart will burn within you, is to remind yourself of what the Word of God says.