“Because of God’s mercy, He does not reveal all that is true about us all at once. His mercy restrains His truth, rationing our revelation since its fullness would crush us. . . . God, in His love, does not instantly tell us everything that is true about us. He sees more than He says. […]
“As I listen to pain in the community of faith, rarely (if ever) have I heard anyone say that their interpersonal pain was sourced in theological disagreements about Christ’s deity or the nature of salvation, but rather in how they were treated. . . . Does every question have one and only one reasonable answer? […]
“Honestly, learning to hear other’s hearts more loudly than their words is a skill that would help us all. Generous listening is becoming a lost art. . . . As a culture, we now collect information in clips and bit that are rarely, if ever, capable of capturing the complexities of a human heart.”- Alicia […]
“We tend to think more about shadows of sin than shadows of strength. . . . Strength shadows, however, are a less intuitive source of disillusionment, because it rarely occurs to us that our giftings could supply anything other than blessing to a relationship.”- Alicia Britt Chole In Chapter 40 (“Sunday Schooled”) of The Night […]
“Faith, when viewed as a performance, is often motivated by fear and self-protection. Its focus is on perfection. . . . As a journey, however, faith viewed as a pilgrimage is motivated by love and glad surrender. Its focus is direction.”- Alicia Britt Chole In Chapter 36 (“The Common Thread”) of The Night is Normal, […]
“We want to be like Jesus, but our understanding of what Jesus is like may be in need of repair. Instead of ‘truly God and truly man,’ perhaps our definition of the Incarnation is more often mostly God with a dash of man. . . . A skewed view of Jesus can actually contribute to […]
“God still whispers to us in our weakness. Wisdom invites us to listen. As with Elijah, God’s voice when we are weak is often directional. . . . Many have discovered a more sustainable rhythm through God’s whispers in what the world calls weakness.”- Alicia Britt Chole “My grace is sufficient for you, for my […]
“Spiritual growth is more like an upward winding path in which we do revisit issues, but on different levels. That same old spot is not in the same old place. Addressing an old issue in a new season is often a sign of growth, not failure.”- Alicia Britt Chole “Now the Lord is the Spirit, […]
“Intellect asks, ‘What is truth?’. . . as if truth were something that could be stated in words. . . . When a man is up against things it is no use for him to try and work it out logically. but let him obey, and instantly he will see his way through. Truth is […]
“The temptation to bail in [disillusionment with self] lies not in a loss of faith, but in a loss of confidence in our ability to follow God. Instead of ‘I thought that God would be different,’ disillusionment with self prompts us to whisper, ‘I thought that I would be different.’ It is a form of […]
“At first glance (and even at second glance) a call to plod can sound less than inspiring. . . . But if we were to peel back history . . . we might have more appreciation for this unglamorous gift of plod.”- Alicia Britt Chole In Chapter 24 (“The Unglamorous Gift”) of The Night is […]
“Our if-thens test God and then grade Him by our definition of goodness. They do so by drawing straight lines between God’s eternal character and an earthly, tangible outcome. . . . So when our if-thens snap in two, we have a choice to make.”- Alicia Britt Chole In Chapter 22 (“Proof Misuse”) of The […]