Leaving Babylon pg. 165
It should be becoming clear to you that as a child of the Most High God, you are a citizen of His kingdom. The kingdom of God is a place where God rules supreme. It is a place that is eternal. You can live in it from this life into the next. It is a place where your behaviors line up with His will and your thoughts are brought into obedience to Christ. In His kingdom, you become passionate for Him as your heart beats in sync with His love. You love as He does and hope as He does. You see humanity through the heart of God. You believe God completely. In His kingdom, you truly live in the peace of God, which passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7). The world will look at you and not understand why you sing in the middle of uncertainties, disappointments, and even tragedies. You come to understand that it is your spirit in communion with His that determines your citizenship in the kingdom of God. You have made a willful and deliberate choice to leave Babylon, and you continually make the willful and deliberate choice not to return.
picture credit – stepping stones
Sometimes we are waiting because we are missing the lessons all around us. Whether it is because of busyness, personal struggles or self pity, we are missing our lessons. I have been so guilty of this—so busy doing that I missed loving.
Sessions in Pain pg. 185
As I have work with my son with autism and other children I have noticed how sometimes the schools must move them on to the next grade or even graduation because they are aging out and they have no room for them to stay – they cannot wait for them to learn. In contrast, our Lord waits patiently for us to achieve to the next level in Him. He does not move us into places where we will fail because we are unprepared. He loves us enough to take the time and wait for the work to be accomplished…
in us
Our Lord will often take us down the road less traveled or the road not taken. As I look back today I am so grateful, once again, that He was so passionate for me as to set up the circumstances in my life so that I would choose His agenda. Session in Pain pg. 144
I have come to love the Road Less Traveled. I even look for it in most situations. It is the road where I am mostly likely to meet my Lord and find the treasures He has for me.
“They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts feel strangely warm as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 NLT
Journal what God is teaching you. You must grasp the precious moments with Him in this season; take advantage of this time of waiting…the lowliest hearts are closest to God. You may think you are stagnant, but you are never closer to the flow of His Spirit than when you are waiting with your heart ready to receive.
Sessions in Pain, pg. 189
Oh the joy of a cultivated heart! A heart that has been turn toward Christ through adversity; a heart that sits waiting to receive the seeds of God for the future of its life. These precious moments of waiting will become benchmarks of your best growth. These will be the quiet victories that you will testify to, encourage others with, and even write books about. They are the moments worth recording in the journals of your heart.
You may have heard the story of the old goldsmith who kept putting the unrefined gold back into the fire, over and over again. Finally someone asked him, “How long will you continue to put the gold back into the fire?” and he answered, “Until I see my own reflection.” When God keeps you in the fire, He is being good to you. He is the patient goldsmith who sits by the fire and carefully tries you until you are pure before Him, until He sees His reflection in your life
Sessions in Pain, pg. 166
We are in the capable hands of the God-smith/Goldsmith. The one who shapes us into His image, day by day and moment by moment. His loving hands are ever on the the gauge working and watching to bring us to Him in the Eternal. The God-smith is patient as He sees our beautiful and strong end in Him.
“He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. Psalm 18:33 KJV 
Oh, beloved, trust His ways and be sensitive to the directives He is giving you. On-going pain in our lives can often cloud our judgment and keep our emotions at the forefront of our mind; therefore, we must decide to listen to His voice and work to keep our feelings in check. We must forge forward in the belief that we serve a God of justice. He cannot be corrupted; He is Holy and He is faithful who promised.
Session in Pain, pg. 172
In many situations forging forward is simply doing what you should do or must do each day in the face of pain, disappointment and discouragement. It involves “staying on the wall” watching and praying and carrying out acts of obedience even when you do not see the results. You forge forward in faith knowing that there is a top to the mountain – a place where you will see God!
The Word of God teaches us that in the lives of those that love God, no pain in life is just a random act having no purpose or meaning other than to hurt us. He always has a plan for whatever events take place in our lives. In our time of deepest agony this is a difficult pill to swallow, but it remains true through those moments when our faith is weakest. I encourage you to look up and start again; even if everything or everyone you trusted in is gone, take His hand and start again.
Sessions in Pain pg. 76
In this fallen world that we live in sometimes it is hard to see the involvement of our good and loving God. He did not choose a fallen world for us, He did not choose autism for our children, and He did not choose the random acts of evil that may hit our lives. But what He will do is remain with us through these acts and cause them to work together for our good as we choose to love Him and trust Him. God gave humanity the gift of free will and sometimes that translates into suffering and acts of evil; but He remains the Lord of the Eternal that holds us in this life and into the next.
In Him there are no Random Acts.
I have much respect for the desperate father in Mark chapter 9. He wanted Christ to heal his sick child but was honest enough to say, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NLT). Honest conversations with God are needed to begin the journey to healing.
Sessions in Pain pg. 33
The Journey to Healing begins with a twinkle of belief. Honestly, believing is not easy for us. It goes against everything we have learned in this way of life that the Bible refers to as Babylon. We have been taught not to believe anything until we see it. The problem with that is once we see it then it is too late for our faith to act. Faith is essential for great things to happen in our lives. Faith can move mountains and most importantly, faith moves God!
Move Him!
Pickers keep picking their wounds open, over and over again, so that they remain visible to those around them. They keep recalling that terrible event even after years and years of counseling, support and prayer. Their wound becomes a badge—a banner of their perpetual state of hurt.
Sessions in Pain pg. 117
Christ died so that you could be healed. He did not die to perpetuate chronic pain by picking wounds open again and again. He died so that you and I could overcome. This overcoming is not dependent upon a situation changing but on us changing. For your wound to heal the dressing of the Word of God must be applied to your lips – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Decide today that “you cried your last tears yesterday! “
Be healed. 
Can it be that many of us embrace our pain and suffering so much that it becomes like a companion or a friend? Have we become so used to and even addicted to the routines that come with our suffering? Can it be that our pain has kept us company for so long and has become so familiar to us that we would miss it if it were gone?
Sessions in Pain pg. 174
I recall working with some parents that have become so familiar with the heartache of raising a child with autism that they actually resist any relief when it comes. They will make excuses like, “nobody know hows to care for him like me” or “what if he has a meltdown and people don’t know what to do”. The truth many times is that as parents we grow so comfortable with this disorder that we no longer reach for anything greater for ourselves or our children. Our whole life becomes built around the difficulties of autism. It is easy to do. I encourage you to fight the embracing of your heartache and instead mold it, with God’s guidance, into a pedestal of daily victories. Work against isolation and toward a good quality of life for yourself and your family. God loves you and will be with you.
He is faithful who promised! 
