Dear Mr. Cook,
Thank you ever so much for the lessons on praising God for our struggles. I’m doing so every day now and my life is really changing. I find, for example, that I’m not as anxious and angry when things don’t go my way. I realized that if I try to be “in control”, then I’m playing God. God is in control of my life, and my job is to trust Him and accept what He gives me. Not as a burden, however,—as a gift! I never got that part before of your teachings! I always felt I had to buckle under and allow God to whip me into shape. Now, I feel as though I’ve been let out of prison! God is not whipping me into shape. He is molding me into a better person. Once I started thanking God for my struggles, even though I wasn’t thankful for some of them and wanted to hang onto the anger, I found I could see the reason God was giving me these lessons. I began thanking Him for such good lessons and it really humbled my hardened heart!
I thought about how the struggles and hurts in my life, like losing my only child, had actually turned me into a better person in the long run. I think my ego wanted to take credit for the progress I’ve made in my 50 years of life, but now I’m giving God all the credit.
What I found the hardest to do was thank Him while I was really in the midst of deep pain, but when I did thank Him, the pain lifted. It wasn’t sudden, but gradually I could see the reason for this struggle. My ego self wanted to hang onto the anger and hurt as if it were something precious. Before I felt that if I praised God for the struggle I would be saying it was alright, acceptable for that other person to treat me in this way. But it had nothing to do with the other person; it had everything to do with my relationship to God. By saying thank you Lord for bringing this struggle into my life, I was able to release my anger toward the other person and realize they weren’t doing anything to “me”. They were, in fact, sinning against God. Their relationship with God was not whole, or they would not be doing what they were doing. I realized that God was trying to help us both to come closer to Him. Well, I can’t speak for the other party, but I am also realizing that an attitude of gratitude helps me through even the toughest situations.
Thank you, Colin, for your great work! I continue listening every evening and was so delighted to hear that the show will be increased to 30 minutes! You are definitely a God-send in my life.
By the way, I have great news. My white blood count is back to normal and all the lumps are benign! I have been using your teachings to help me stay on a strict cleansing diet and it worked! I just got a clean bill of health, Wednesday! Now I will continue to follow the diet and grow in my spiritual work. See, here is an example of a pretty scary situation leading a person to a deeper love and understanding of God’s ways. I “accidentally” discovered your show while sequestering myself at my little shack in the mountains last summer. My dangerous state of health led me to listen to your program (one of the few I could pick up) and has brought me not only to better health, but to indescribable joy! I am so very grateful that the Lord had me get sick, so that I could discover and listen to your program. I have learned so very much and benefited tremendously in body, mind and spirit! I praise God for allowing you to help me in this manner!
I am growing in physical strength, so I plan to attend one of your seminars this year. Already I can get out of bed earlier and spend more time in my morning devotions. So much has changed in my physical body that I won’t bore you with the details. The results are that I can do tons more and am even beginning to write that book I’ve been wanting to write all my life! If it is a success, I will also be able to support myself financially which I haven’t done in over 10 years. I am overwhelmingly grateful for all you and your program have and are doing for me. Keep up the tremendously important work! Your friend,
S.P.
Your newsletter is out of this world. I have never heard sermons as good as this. You should write a book.
E.P.
OK. —Colin
My purpose in writing is to thank you for another excellent newsletter, and a tremendous beginning of a tape series on Romans [without] comparison.
M.d.B.
Colin, I still listen and record your programs. I’ve been doing better…I follow your advice on praising God, and my craving for drugs and alcohol has subsided.
R.C.