Safely Through the Storm: 120 Reflections on Hope

By Debra Herbeck and Amy Welborn

If you're facing hard times, if all seems lost, this book will give you the courage to press on to a better tomorrow. These reflections from saints and writers who suffered, who were tempted to despair, who were tested in every way—but who never gave up—will help you gain the insight you need to live confidently in the Lord no matter what your circumstance.

This book includes one hundred and twenty quotes from writers across the centuries designed to inspire readers to persevere in the face of suffering. It offers suggestions for embracing the cross, turning to prayer, helping others, trusting God, and so forth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781635824735

Book preview

The

Quotes

1| Our True Hope

Man’s great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God—God who has loved us and who continues to love us to the end, until all is accomplished (cf. Jn 13:1 and 19:30).

—Pope Benedict XVI

2| Emmanuel

God, in and through Jesus, has become Emmanuel, God with us. It belongs to the center of our faith that God is a faithful God, a God who did not want us to ever be alone but who wanted to understand—to stand under—all that is human. The Good News of the Gospel, therefore, is not that God came to take our suffering away, but that God wanted to become part of it.

—Fr. Henri Nouwen

3| Trace His Guiding Hand

Let us humbly and reverently attempt to trace His guiding hand in the years which we have lived. Let us thankfully commemorate the many mercies He has promised to us in time past, the many sins He has not remembered, the many dangers He has averted, the many prayers He has answered, the many mistakes He has corrected, the many warnings, the many lessons, the much light, the abounding comfort which He has from time to time given. Let us dwell upon times and seasons, times of trouble, times of joy, times of trial, times of refreshment. How did He cherish us as children!… He has not made us for naught; He has brought us thus far, in order to bring us further, in order to bring us on to the end. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

—Bl. Cardinal John Henry Newman

4| Be at Peace Today

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow.

The same Eternal Father who cares for you today

Will take care of you tomorrow

And every day of your life.

He will either shield you from suffering,

Or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts.

—St. Francis de Sales

5| You Will Not Be Overcome

[O]ur good Lord spoke quietly without voice or word of mouth…and said so sweetly, …You will not be overcome.

…This word, You will not be overcome, was said very distinctly and firmly to give us confidence and comfort for whatever troubles may come. He did not say, You will never have a rough passage, you will never be over-strained, you will never feel uncomfortable, but he did say, You will never be overcome. God wants us to pay attention to these words, so as to trust him always with strong confidence, through thick and thin. For he loves us, and delights in us; so he wills that we should love and delight in him in return, and trust him with all our strength. So all will be well.

—St. Julian of Norwich

6| Obedience

I said, Let me walk in the fields.

He said, No, walk in the town.

I said, There are no flowers there.

He said, No flowers, but a crown.

I said, "But the skies are black;

There is nothing but noise and din."

And He wept as He sent me back;

There is more, He said; there is sin.

I said, "But the air is thick,

And fogs are veiling the sun."

He answered, "Yet souls are sick,

And souls in the dark undone."

I said, "I shall miss the light,

And friends will miss me, they say."

He answered, "Choose to-night

If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be given.

He said, "Is it hard to decide?

It will not seem hard in heaven

To have followed the steps of your Guide."

I cast one look at the fields,

Then set my face to the town;

He said, "My child, do you yield?

Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"

Then into His hand went mine,

And into my heart came He;

And I walk in a light divine

The path I had feared to see.

—George MacDonald

7| Sweet Tribulations

[T]he God who once freed the three children from the fiery furnace is with me always; he has delivered me from … tribulations and made them sweet, for his mercy is for ever. In the midst of these torments,… I am, by the grace of God, full of joy and gladness, because I am not alone—Christ is with me.… In the midst of this storm I cast my anchor towards the throne of God, the anchor that is the lively hope in my heart.

—St. Paul Le-Bao-Tinh

8| Time to Believe

When things fall apart and all seems to be ruined and when the terrible question What do you do when nothing makes sense? comes right home, the answer is that it is the time to believe. It is the time for faith…. One must grab onto God…. One must be able to say, I believe that God’s goodness is going to bring about some greater good by this horror. It may not be a great good for me in this world, but it will be a great good someplace, somewhere, perhaps for those I love in the next world.

—Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.

9| Trust Without Reservation

When God becomes our guide he insists that we trust him without reservations and put aside all nervousness about his guidance. We are sent along the path he has chosen for us,