We learned this past Sunday in our new series on “Go,” how compassionate our great God is. He sees and understands our weakness and need better than anyone else and He sympathizes with us. He truly cares. 

One of the often asked questions from believers is “What is God’s will for my life?” Generally, this question revolves around wanting to figure God’s will for a career, a spouse, or a big decision, among other things. This last week I was asked about God’s will for the salvation of unbelievers. Peter wrote, “This Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

While driving Annie and her car home from school this week, we listened to a podcast by John Piper on Why God Wills Suffering for the Children He Loves. This presentation was given to a group of pastors and their wives in Hawaii back in 2014, and he focused his presentation on the connection of joy and suffering in Scripture. It was powerful, and I thought it would be well worth passing along some of the highlights, since suffering can tend to sideline us unless we keep God’s perspective in mind. If you’d like to listen to the entire 15-minute presentation, you can do so.

Most people love fruit. I know I do. I love banana’s with my ice cream, strawberries with my shortcake, peaches in my cobbler and apples in my bread pudding among others. The tastes and colors of fruit seem to be endless. I read this week there are approximately 2000 types of fruits around the world and the western world uses only 10% of those. There is so much more to enjoy. But according to Statista, the most popular fresh fruits around the world are bananas, apples, and grapes.