It can happen at any time: Feelings of weakness and brokenness take over in hospital waiting rooms, just before a big presentation, or after unexpected phone calls. When the realities of living in a sinful world leave us empty, it’s tempting to search for a quick motivational quote, pep talk, or self-help book to bolster our efforts. Everywhere we look, we’re constantly encouraged to find strength by digging deeper into self-reliance. While slogans ultimately fall flat, God’s living and inerrant Word offers true comfort not by affirming our own strength but by showing our reliance on Christ. Easy to read, meditate on, and memorize, these five Bible verses offer strength grounded in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The concept of “God’s plan” can be nebulous. The platitude, “This was just God’s plan,” rings hollow—or even hurtful—in times of pain or terrible events in history. While we cannot always pin down God’s plan for our individual lives, we can observe, straight from Scripture, God’s ultimate plan for salvation.

When we quote Bible verses, our intentions are often good. We want to encourage ourselves and others, so we put Bible verses on home décor, shirts, mugs, bumper stickers, and social media. However, it can be easy to take Bible verses out of context if we don’t stop to ask, “How did we get here?”

Author Andrew R. Jones shares three popular Bible verses that are misunderstood and provides context for them below.

As a sinful human being, I rely on the Holy Spirit to help me respond with grace when I am under pressure. I have often fallen short on this. I’ve responded without grace or a caring heart toward my neighbor. I have lashed out, said unkind things, and made situations worse. I am clearly not an authority on responding correctly to stressful situations.

Have you ever been through a season where life didn’t go as planned? Maybe a vacation you planned was canceled or a cruise was postponed. Or maybe you didn’t get into your top school for college. Most of us have gone through a season where life took an unexpected turn. It can cause pain from unmet expectations, make us stress, and even cause us to doubt the Lord’s goodness.

Yup. Sometimes situations in life can cause us to doubt God.

In the past few years, you’ve likely heard a lot of words—words such as pandemic, fear, quarantine, isolation, or even emergency. But the words you should heed the most are those of God’s Word. This is where He gives true, everlasting comfort and strength to His people. In the coming weeks, despite school closures and social distancing, cling to these five Bible verses that offer comfort and hope, even amid times of darkness. Write them on a mirror. Save them in a note on your smartphone. Or even share them on social media!

We took a look at six popular verses in the Book of Matthew, and did some digging in the three volumes on Matthew in the Concordia Commentary series to get some greater context and understanding of them!