God's purpose in increasing our trials is to sensitize us to people we never would have been able to relate to otherwise.

Every time we go to sleep, it's a rehearsal of the day when our eyes will ultimately close and we wake up on the side of eternity.

Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.

When we hurt, God doesn't always give us lots of words; he gives us the Word; the Word made flesh who is intimately acquainted with our grief and suffering. That's what helps the most.

True, God hates Alzheimer's, spinal cord injury, mental illness, autism, and the rest (these conditions are all symptoms of the Fall). Yet he permits these things to accomplish something far more precious in our lives: patience, endurance, compassion for others who hurt, and refined faith and trust in God, to name a few.

The Bible is replete with commands to persevere, especially in the face of injustice.

We've got to remember that the core of Christ's plan is to rescue us from sin. Our pain, poverty, and broken hearts are not his ultimate focus. True, he cares about these things, but they're merely symptoms of the real problem.