~ It's LIFE !! ~

'Life is filled with difficult moments, and few hit us more personally and intimately than when we struggle with a severe illness or traumatic injury. Fear, doubt, anxiety, and despair strike at our heart. Coupled with the physical pain, the times when life hurts can be overwhelming. Comfort seems unattainable, and hope's beyond reach.

We long for relief from our pain and answers for our questions.' "Without question, many people turn away from God because of the problem of pain. They find it hard to believe that a loving and all-powerful God would permit good people to suffer the way they do. On the other hand, thousands have testified that it was during a time of deep sorrow or intense anguish that they found God more real and precious than ever before." - HVL

God can use sickness in the lives of His children to make them more wise and better people.

* READ:
2 Corinthians 1:3-11

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort."
- 2 Corinthians 1:3

'On the last day of her junior year of high school, our
17-year-old daughter passed away in a car accident.

In one horrible instant, everything we knew about God and the Bible and heaven was put to the test. We needed the Christian community to guide us toward hope as we stood at the funeral of a beloved young woman who had touched so many lives with her smile, her godliness, her love of life, and her care for others.

For many weeks, I couldn't do anything. What could I say? How could I find words to help others when my family - when I - needed so much?

Now, months later as I begin to resume living again, I can say that God has not changed. He is still our loving heavenly Father, the "God of all comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3). He is still the source of hope in the face of unexpected grief. I write of Him with a renewed sense of my need for His touch, His love, His strength. Broken, I write of the only One who can make us whole.' - DB

* READ:
Psalm 147:1-11

"He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name." - Psalm 147:4

How amazing to read, "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:4-5).

Even more amazing though, is the psalmist affirming that God, who is far greater than the universe He created yet cares about our sorrows. Instead of being distant and remote, He is close at hand with love and mercy for His own. "He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds," wrote the psalmist.

Jesus, the creator of all things including the galaxies, visited our planet to pay the penalty for our own sin and to open a way; the ONLY way, to fellowship and have existing friendship with Him!

'Today He stands ready to bring healing and wholeness to our deeply wounded spirits. From naming stars to mending hearts, nothing is too hard for God.' - DM

The Maker of the universe
Knows every need of man,
And made provision for that need
According to His plan. - Crane

* When God permits trials, He also provides comfort.