~What kind of God is it who asks everything of us? The same God who "...did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all;and with this gift how can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?" He gives all. He asks all.

~Until the will and affections are brought under the authority of Christ, we have not begun to understand, let alone to accept, His lordship.

~...the heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted on. Does it make sense that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them than they care about getting there?

~I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly say... "Thy will be done".

~If the yearnings went away, what would we have to offer to the Lord? Aren't they given to us to offer? It is the control of passion, not its eradication, that is needed. How would we learn to submit to the authority of Christ if we had nothing to submit?

~My heart was saying "Lord, take away my longing, or give me that for which I long.' The Lord was answering, "I must teach you to long for something better."

~God gives us the matterial for sacrifice...The very longings themselves can be offered to Him Who understands perfectly...What will He do with these offerings? Never mind. He knows what to do.

And one last one from Jim Elliot...

~Let not our longing slay our appetite for living...Obediance involves for us, not physical suffering, perhaps, nor social ostracism, as it has for some, but this warring with worries and regrets, this bringing into captivity our thoughts.