Become New with John Ortberg Episode 31 - Questions
10 snips
Mar 31, 2021 A reflection on Lent as a 40-day spiritual journey and how wilderness and waiting shape faith. Conversations about why suffering exists and how hardship can form character. Practical guidance for relational pain, boundaries after abuse, and freedom from financial insecurity. Thoughts on God revealing truth in time and living beyond circumstances in light of the cross and resurrection.
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Lent As A Preparatory Wilderness
- Lent and 40-day motifs signal a liminal preparatory season where God leads people through difficulty toward something beyond.
- John Ortberg links biblical 40s (Noah, Moses, Elijah, Jesus) to the idea that ambiguity and endurance produce growth.
Grace Found In Wandering Darkness
- Suffering and grace often coexist; those compelled to wander in darkness can gain deep assurance that darkness cannot extinguish light.
- Ortberg cites Eleanor Stump's use of an Auschwitz poem to show grace amid profound suffering.
Why Modern People Struggle More With Pain
- Modern buffering (education, medicine, tech) makes us more troubled by suffering than earlier generations who viewed it as character-forming.
- Ortberg compares coaches/teachers who push their most capable people hardest as a lens for understanding trials.
