Not beyond the reach of heartache

Rusty Peterman, who lives close enough to the Gulf Coast to have refugees living in his own neighborhood, offers some valuable reflections about suffering and the gospel:

It's important to not be mistaken about Christianity. Being a Christian isn't some kind of hazard protection. Like it doesn’t mean that, if you are a Christian, you're somehow exempt from harm.

A person who follows Jesus will still have struggles. Life will still be tough. A Christian may lose a house, or job, and have to start all over. Christianity does not put you beyond the reach of heartache or hardship.

But the hope of Christianity is that you can have a strength in you to see it through. You will be able, by power and grace from Jesus, to get up when you’ve been knocked down.

Amen.