We are impatient, shortsighted people, though, aren’t we? God may be telling a great story of redemption with our problems and pains, but very often He doesn’t tell it quickly enough to satisfy us. We are sitcom people serving the God of epic novels. While we are day in day out concerned about relief, God sees through infinite eyes in the scope of eternity. The hurts of our lives, the lingering darkness we cannot see beyond, He may see as mere shadows in the otherwise brilliant eternal portrait He is painting of His dominion over our lives. We typically see this portrait, albeit in a limited way, after we’ve passed through the redemptive journey. Imagine hacking your way through a dismal valley, then the next day you view it from a scenic overlook and realize how beautiful it is. But the key to experiencing the sustaining power of Jesus the Redeemer in our lives is experiencing Him by trusting Him precisely in those long valley crossings.

-Your Jesus is Too Safe by Jared C. Wilson

God has created logical, loving limits for us. Think of a river. Rivers are beautiful. You can sit on the banks of a river and picnic or read a book. You can go boating on a river or photograph it. Now a river has banks, but we don’t see people out with placards saying “Free the river” or “Every river has the right to flow wherever it wants” or “Down with riverbanks”. When a river flows within its banks, it brings harmony and order, tranquillity and peace. If the banks are taken away, the river will flood. When a river floods, we suddenly see that the reason for the banks was not to restrict the river at all but to give it limits. The banks make the river beautiful and useful. Without them, the river becomes a destructive and raging force. The same is true of sexuality. God made it to have banks and to travel within a channel. When we flow within those banks, our sexuality is peaceful, useful, and fulfilling. When we flow outside those banks, we bring destruction and havoc on ourselves and many other people around us. 

-Relationships by Dean Sherman