Silent Time

What are the major difficulties in your life?  Once identified, the next question is: who can overcome them?

Different kinds of wisdom – different kinds of criteria: The holy, almighty creator God has an eternal view that often differs from our human ideas in several regards. And his grace is beyond what we can imagine.

Struggles, trials and challenges in the mind - and how to handle them.

Even throughout the darkest hour the best friend we can imagine offers to be with us and to help.

Do you tell to God how to help? It is funny that we with our limited human short term view try to tell the eternal, all-knowing creator God in which way to intervene. The Lord has higher longer term plans, many of which we cannot understand yet. So let's humbly listen to what God tells us via our circumstances, the way things go on in life. Nevertheless, for sure it is good to turn to the Lord in...

Despite the flood of evil going on in the world seems to be overwhelming, yet, on a small scale, good positive things have started already.

How can we find out whether a preacher proclaims the good news from the Lord or has one’s own agenda?

The public opinion often gives a lot of tolerance to those who talk foolish things and at the same time rejects those who proclaim the good news of the almighty eternal God.

To what do you like to listen to? Mainly stories and legends?

Do you look for rest and joy? As long as we live here in this life on earth, many factors try to hinder us from having real rest and joy. Yet there is a firm positive outlook and already deep peace and inner joy in the heart available for those who put their trust in the Lord.

Life’s circumstances give us a lot of unrest, such as persecution, hatred, stress and many more such things try to ham us, especially believers in the holy eternal creator God get such external pressure. Yet, all who love the Lord have deep inner peace by the grace of the heavenly Father.

Is it ok to enjoy life? We do not need to seek suffering. God knows what is best for us, and he will bring into our life everything in a way, timing and dosis that serves to our best in the long term, both, good luck and bad luck, pleasant times and unpleasant times will be sorted into our life by the right time by the all-knowing God, who has a far better long term plan than we can ever have. Our...

As adults we might be proud of our wisdom and intellect, and at times we may look down to the simple-mindedness of children. But the almighty creator God rejects such arrogance, and rather he loves those who have the type of faith that children have. We can learn from them.

The “daily bread” is much more than food alone. Interestingly, the Lord’s Prayer does not give a long list of things that we think we need, in the way that we might request for our wishes to be fulfilled. The request for all that we need is summarized in the one aspect of “daily bread”. In addition, the Lord’s Prayer gives a lot of other aspects of prayer (that we easily tend to forget).

Is suffering good or bad? Pains are never pleasant; still it is to be distinguished: e.g. pains from exercise might help to build up a muscle.

There are many different kinds of temptations – each person gets attacked in one’s weak areas.

Which efforts in life are useless and in vain? Which efforts in life are useful and worth the pain?

Evil often comes in not so obviously; matters are turned around, people get confused, so that it appears as if good is bad and vice versa. Let’s pray for clarity, so that God may give us wisdom in all big and small decisions considering that in the background the permanent war is going on in the spiritual world between good and bad.

What does “the Father’s only begotten Son” have to do with your life nowadays?

“The word became a human being” – what do you think about that statement? It sounds like a strange combination of words. But St. John explains and points well towards the saviour Jesus Christ.

Judge justly – or even better: do not judge others at all. Better to show mercy to others and to offer them new beginnings if someone has done wrong, because with the same measure we judge others, we will be judged as well.

Who can expect good things to happen in the long term future?

Who is really sovereign?

Since God has all power and is at the same time merciful, does it not mean that we should be free of trouble? Far from that. God does not promise a trouble-free life. In fact the word of God prepares the believers for difficult times, e.g. in the Psalms in the prayer “you let people ride over our heads, we go through fire and through water, yet you will bring us out into a safe place”.

What do you hope for? To pass an exam or to graduate? Or looking forward to a promotion in the job? Or do you look for health or for peace in the family? Whatever it might be, the biggest hope is in the Lord, the creator God almighty. “On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us”. That is not just a vague hope but a firm future for all who put their trust in the heavenly Father.