Gratitude in Suffering and Hope

And this is the hope of the Christian. We don't deny suffering. We acknowledge it and proclaim that

it will not have the final word, because the one we worship has already done something about

it. See, Jesus is not a God who just talks about suffering from a

distance. He's the God who entered it, who bore it, who broke its power.

He knows what it means to cry. He knows what it is to be brokenhearted, to,

to bleed, to experience loss, to die. But Church, he is also the God

who will wipe every tear away. He heals the brokenhearted. He binds up their wounds.

He had victory over death so that our suffering will not be final. The cross is the...