People Are Worth the Pain is a quote I read in Nancy Guthrie’s book, “The One Year Book of Hope,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for just five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 6 of Lent 2025- March 10

I read this quote in Nancy Guthrie’s book, “The One Year Book of Hope.” It has been my morning devotional for several months, and you can buy a copy of the book HERE.

Nancy has suffered greatly in her life. Two of her children died before their first birthdays due to a rare disease. The devotional covers how she clung to hope despite the intense pain she felt.

She talks about how people have great power to help, but also great power to harm, especially when we are suffering. As I suffered after my massively traumatic divorce, people often said things that made things much worse, though they were trying to help. Here’s a useful meme I found during that time that I refer to now when I’m unsure what to say to someone who is suffering:

Why I Need to Remember People Are Worth the Pain

I want to remember that even when people hurt me, people are worth the pain. They are often Jesus-with-skin-on for me in moments when I need them most. People often let me down, yet I need people in my life.

In fact, in the past three difficult years, the best I’ve felt is when I’m with people. This is a reversal for me as an introvert. My baseline is to spend time alone to recharge. Of course, that’s still true, as it’s my nature. However, I’ve learned how truly dependent I am on the body of Christ – my Christian brothers and sisters – to support me when I’m needy, lonely, broken, depressed, and desperate. Those feelings are triggers to call someone, get out of my house, go to church even if I don’t feel like it, and keep meeting with my small group.

My tendency is to isolate, especially when I’ve been hurt by someone close to me. However, I’ve learned that people are worth the pain. The payoff is greater than the disappointments due to their imperfections. What they offer in time, conversation, listening, affirmation, and laughter is worth its weight in gold.

It’s been good for me to learn that people are worth the pain in my time of suffering. In a few situations, God has invited me to persist even though I didn’t see a payoff of my investment in people. I have to trust that because God knows that people are worth the pain to him, they can be worth the pain of disappointment and loss to me as well. As long as I’m doing his will and not putting myself in a position of abuse, I can have peace that the pain is worth it.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

Dare to Trust Again is a quote I read in Lysa TerKeurst’s book, “I Want to Trust You, But I Don’t,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for just five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 5 of Lent 2025- March 9

I read this quote in Lysa TerKeurst’s book, “I Want to Trust You, But I Don’t.” It is just one of many quotes I highlighted, and you can see more helpful quotes from the book HERE.

Today’s quote is pulled from one of the last chapters in the book. It’s not given at the front of the book, because Lysa does a great job of affirming pain and doubt in the first three-quarters of the book. Then she gently guides you on how and why you need to rebuild trust.

Here’s a longer quote from this chapter on healing:

“Instead of focusing on all that was taken from me, maybe I could shift my focus to what this new season could give me.”

I’m pondering this truth carefully for this reason. In the past three years, every single time I’ve gone to a counseling session, I have faced high-level spiritual warfare. However, this week was the first time I didn’t face any huge fights with the enemy before, during, or after my appointment. This is a wonder to me.

I’m carefully wondering if God is inviting me to trust him again in a new season that won’t be fraught with constant trauma and spiritual warfare. I wonder if the lack of spiritual warfare is a sign that it’s a new season. I have other signs that God might even be restoring twice as much to me, as seen in this meme:

My trust in God must be rebuilt before my trust in people can be restored. I’m rebuilding my trust by taking baby steps forward in choosing hope that things will be better.

Do you need to dare to trust again, like I do? I highly recommend Lysa’s book as a companion to your regular rhythms of Bible reading, prayer, corporate worship, singing or listening to praise songs, and meditating on God’s Word. I hope this quote and post inspires new hope for you today.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

When Facing the Night is a quote I read in an important book last year, and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for just five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 4 of Lent 2025- March 8

I read this quote in Alicia Britt Chole’s book, The Night is Normal. It’s one of my favorite books that I read in 2024, out of over 100 books. It helped me greatly through my dark night of the soul.

The full quote is this: “So, when facing the night, my friend, do not bail. Bloom.” The whole premise of the book is to commit and persist in our faith during dark seasons. Alicia says that certain faith muscles only develop in hard seasons. She also says that when hope feels out of reach for us, like it has for me many times in the past three years, it’s more important to persist in our faith. I wrote about this in another recent post, which you can read HERE.

This book is a comforting helper for dark seasons in your faith. It will not only affirm your pain, but direct you toward the light with true wisdom, not empty platitudes. I highly recommend you get a copy for yourself HERE.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

They’re Just Dust, and So Are You is a quote I recently read in Craig Groeschel’s new book, and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for just five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 2 of Lent 2025- March 6

I’m reading Craig Groeschel’s new book, The Benefit of Doubt, which I highly recommend. Today’s quote is pulled from a chapter where Craig explains how it’s hard to have faith when others, especially Christians, have let you down in big ways. I’ve certainly been there myself, so this message caught my attention.

Craig talks about a time when Paul and Barnabas were reaching the Gentiles with the Gospel message, yet the Jewish leaders persecuted them and drove them out of Jerusalem. This is what Paul and Barnabas did next:

So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 13:51-52 NIV

Craig continues, “Did you notice the word “dust”? They shook it off. They chose joy…

I realize that if you’ve been mistreated, betrayed, or abused, it’s going to take a lot of praying, then some shaking, and maybe some counseling, then some shaking, and maybe some more praying and some introspection and some more shaking. It’s not easy, but at some point, for your sake, you’ve got to shake it off. Find the ability to forgive and heal and let it go and, like Paul and Barnabas, move on filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Can I encourage you to look to Jesus and shake off whatever people have done to you? After all, they’re just dust.”

Craig says they’re just dust, but he also says several times in the chapter – “And so are you.”

Forgiving Others Who Are Just Dust

There is a whole group of people I need to forgive for the major sins they’ve committed against me. I know in my head I need to do this because it’s a command from God. However, my heart has wanted to point to the unfairness that continues, so I sometimes get stuck.

That’s why this quote – “They’re just dust, and so are you” is so helpful in my pursuit of forgiveness. The people who have hurt me seem less like monsters and villains when I remember they are just dust, as all of us have been since Adam was created.

The second part of the quote helps me the most. My natural tendency as an INFJ is to judge others. I am tempted to claim the high road as a pedestal from which I can look down on others. However, remembering that I am also just dust keeps me in touch with my humanity. If it weren’t for God’s work in my life, I probably would act just like they do.

I want to shake the dust off and choose joy while I forgive others for their harm against me. The visual image of shaking off dust is a powerful one I can apply when I’m tempted toward bitterness. Then I can smile at God and thank him for making me more like his Son every day as I walk in submission and obedience, even though I’m just dust like everyone else.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!