Fundamentally, our Lord’s message was Himself. 

He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; 

He himself is that Gospel. 

He did not come merely to give bread; 

He said, “I am the bread.” 

He did not come merely to shed light; 

He said, “I am the light.” 

He did not come merely to show the door; 

He said, “I am the door.” 

He did not come merely to name a shepherd; 

He said: “I am the shepherd.” 

He did not come merely to point the way; 

He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

J. Sidlow Baxter

Joni Tada on suffering and sin

Quote from Joni Eareckson Tada in interview with Marvin Olasky in WORLD magazine  January 26, 2013 edition.

Why doesn't God just eradicate suffering all together?

            If He were to eradicate suffering, He'd have to eradicate sin
            in which suffering has it's roots.
            And if He were to eradicate sin,
            He'd have to eradicate sinners."

How the road looks to me at times.

I've been struggling with my expectations of what God should do.

Too often, my thinking is, I'm his child so He should:
     Rescue me, take all the pain away,  
    give me no hardship, sickness,
    no  bad times.

But, when I look at history, believers who served God mightily have also suffered.
   

We see  ill health;  pain;  early death; poverty, even torture for their faith in their pathway.

In  some cases we are given a record  detailing  their lives and work in the kingdom, yet with suffering and hardship.  I am seeing that God their Father did not cushion their lives, prevent pain, sorrow, hardship, sickness and even death - but their lives were held never-the-less in God's keeping, and they did not walk alone.

Moreover, only in  some cases are we are given a glimpse of the value of  the lives of those around us.  It seems to me that too often we only see/ or maybe notice the hard parts, not the glory.

So, the bottom line today is:
   
     Do I trust that God is in my hardship as well as the good times?
     Do I believe God loves me and is directing my life?
     Do I give Him thanksgiving and worship even when my life is not going my
     way?  

     Yes, and Yes, and Yes.  

I do Lord God, by your enabling power in my life trust you.

                                             THANK YOU!