Living by faith isn't living with certainty. It's trusting God in spite of unanswered questions and unresolved doubts.

Self worth and net worth are not the same.

How does God teach me love? By putting me around unlovely people. How does God teach me joy in the middle of grief? Not happiness, which is based on happenings. How does God teach me peace? Not when I am out fishing and everything is going my way and it doesn't get better than this. But in the middle of chaos. How does God teach me patience? By putting me in His waiting room.

But no one who is lost has lost one ounce of value to God. Even if you don't have a relationship with him, you have immense value to God.

Gods plan isn't a map for your life that you see all at once, but a scroll unrolled a little at a time.

Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love.

My first reaction in pastoral care is not to explain. And again, I don't think the primary purpose of the Bible is to explain suffering. I never have, because the actual explanations are often inadequate. I think the primary purpose of Scripture is to say I am all you need in this suffering and I need comfort.