Testing Times

News from Syria continues to be exceedingly gloomy. I have Syrian friends, and wonder what they are going through.
While the politicians wrangle, the NHS struggles to deliver their best dreams, and many staff and some patients experience difficulties.
There are also many families and individuals known to us where life is very hard at present, for many reasons.
In all these scenarios, is there hope?
St. Paul faced troubles of many sorts, and he learned a lesson or two which can inspire us too.
'We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.' (2 Corinthians 4.8-10)
Because Paul was able to relate his experiences of trouble and difficulty to the experiences of Jesus, he had hope that God had not abandoned him.
When we face what look like impossible odds, we can know too that was what Jesus faced, and after death came life.
Therefore, we need to entrust ourselves, with all our troubles and worries, into the hands of the God who sent Jesus into our world, to live, suffer, die and rise again for us.
May He bring us all hope, as we trust Him.
Best wishes,
Richard