Finding Purpose and Promise in Our Pain

### Summary

In today's sermon, we explored the profound truth that God has a purpose in our problems and a promise through our path. We began by acknowledging the reality of suffering and pain, emphasizing that while it is not comforting to hear that everything will work out for good in the midst of our struggles, it is essential to understand that God does not waste any moment of our lives. God can bring light out of darkness, sight out of blindness, and life out of death. This does not mean that all things are good or that God causes our suffering, but rather that God can weave a redemptive thread through our pain, shaping us into the image of Christ.

We delved into the theological concepts of foreknowledge, predestination, and conformity to Christ, highlighting that God's ultimate purpose will be realized in us as we trust Him. This understanding can carry us through trials, even when our path seems confusing and we question God's presence. The promise of future glory with God makes our current suffering worth enduring.

I shared a personal story about my parents' declining health and the recent loss of my father, illustrating how God is teaching me to cling to His promises even in the midst of pain. This season has taught me the importance of being present with others in their suffering, rather than trying to fix their problems. It is in our weakness and pain that we often experience God's grace most profoundly, and it is through these experiences that we can minister to others more effectively.

We concluded by discussing the importance of sitting with others in their pain, much like Job's friends initially did, and being a comforting presence without trying to explain away their suffering. This compassionate presence can be a powerful witness to the love of Christ.

### Key Takeaways

1. **God's Purpose in Our Problems**: Even in the midst of suffering, God does not waste any moment. He can bring light out of darkness and life out of death. This does not mean that all things are good or that God causes our suffering, but He can weave a redemptive thread through our pain, shaping us into the image of Christ. [12:04]

2. **Trusting God's Ultimate Purpose**: The theological concepts of foreknowledge, predestination, and conformity to Christ remind us that God's ultimate purpose will be realized in us as we trust Him. This understanding can carry us through trials, even when our path seems confusing and we question God's presence. [12:04]

3. **Personal Testimony of Clinging to God's Promises**: Sharing personal stories of suffering, like my parents' declining health, illustrates how God teaches us to cling to His promises even in pain. This season has taught me the importance of being present with others in their suffering, rather than trying to fix their problems. [21:34]

4. **Experiencing God's Grace in Weakness**: It is in our weakness and pain that we often experience God's grace most profoundly. This is where God wants to show up the most in our lives, and it is through these experiences that we can minister to others more effectively. [25:58]

5. **Being a Comforting Presence**: Like Job's friends initially did, we should sit with others in their pain and be a comforting presence without trying to explain away their suffering. This compassionate presence can be a powerful witness to the love of Christ. [30:29]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[0:30] - Introduction and Greetings
[4:06] - Building Trust and Embodying Christ's Love
[5:32] - Journey to Ministry
[6:28] - Joining Menlo Park
[7:47] - Preparing the Sermon
[11:19] - Purpose in Our Problems
[12:04] - God's Redemptive Thread
[13:42] - Theological Concepts
[19:29] - Personal Story: Parents' Health
[21:34] - Clinging to God's Promises
[22:51] - Experiencing God's Grace
[25:58] - Sitting in Pain
[27:54] - Ministering Through Suffering
[30:29] - Being a Comforting Presence
[34:11] - Closing Remarks and Announcements

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. Romans 8:28-30 (NIV) - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."

#### Observation Questions
1. According to Romans 8:28, what does God promise to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose?
2. How does the sermon describe God's ability to bring good out of our suffering? ([12:04])
3. What personal story did the pastor share to illustrate clinging to God's promises in the midst of pain? ([21:34])
4. How did Job's friends initially respond to his suffering, and what lesson can we learn from their actions? ([30:29])

#### Interpretation Questions
1. What does it mean that God can "weave a redemptive thread" through our pain, as mentioned in the sermon? ([12:04])
2. How do the theological concepts of foreknowledge, predestination, and conformity to Christ provide comfort during trials? ([13:42])
3. In what ways can experiencing God's grace in our weakness help us minister to others more effectively? ([25:58])
4. Why is it important to be a comforting presence for others in their pain, rather than trying to explain away their suffering? ([30:29])

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you experienced suffering. How did you see God working through that situation, even if it was not immediately apparent? ([12:04])
2. How can you trust God's ultimate purpose in your current trials, even when the path seems confusing? ([13:42])
3. Think of someone in your life who is currently suffering. How can you be a comforting presence for them without trying to fix their problems? ([30:29])
4. In what ways can you cling to God's promises during difficult seasons, as the pastor did with his parents' health issues? ([21:34])
5. How can you allow God's grace to be made perfect in your weakness, and how might this change the way you approach your own struggles? ([25:58])
6. What practical steps can you take to sit with others in their pain, following the example of Job's friends before they started speaking? ([30:29])
7. How can you cultivate a deeper understanding of God's redemptive work in your life, especially during times of suffering? ([12:04])

Day 1: God's Redemptive Thread in Our Pain
Description: Even in the midst of suffering, God does not waste any moment. He can bring light out of darkness and life out of death. This does not mean that all things are good or that God causes our suffering, but He can weave a redemptive thread through our pain, shaping us into the image of Christ. Understanding this can help us see our struggles in a new light, knowing that God is at work even when we cannot see it. This perspective can provide comfort and hope, reminding us that our pain has a purpose and that God is with us through it all. [12:04]

Isaiah 61:3 (ESV): "To grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified."

Reflection: Think of a recent struggle or painful experience in your life. How can you see God's redemptive thread in that situation, and how might He be using it to shape you into the image of Christ?


Day 2: Trusting God's Ultimate Purpose
Description: The theological concepts of foreknowledge, predestination, and conformity to Christ remind us that God's ultimate purpose will be realized in us as we trust Him. This understanding can carry us through trials, even when our path seems confusing and we question God's presence. Trusting in God's ultimate purpose means believing that He is in control and that He has a plan for our lives, even when we cannot see it. This trust can provide a sense of peace and assurance, knowing that our lives are in God's hands and that He is working all things for our good. [12:04]

Ephesians 1:11 (ESV): "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you questioned God's presence in your life. How can you remind yourself of God's ultimate purpose and trust Him more fully in your current circumstances?


Day 3: Clinging to God's Promises in Personal Suffering
Description: Sharing personal stories of suffering, like the declining health of loved ones, illustrates how God teaches us to cling to His promises even in pain. This season has taught the importance of being present with others in their suffering, rather than trying to fix their problems. It is in these moments of vulnerability and pain that we often experience God's grace most profoundly. By clinging to God's promises, we can find strength and hope, knowing that He is with us and that His promises are true. [21:34]

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV): "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Reflection: Think of a promise from God that has brought you comfort in a time of suffering. How can you hold onto that promise today, and how can you share it with someone else who is hurting?


Day 4: Experiencing God's Grace in Weakness
Description: It is in our weakness and pain that we often experience God's grace most profoundly. This is where God wants to show up the most in our lives, and it is through these experiences that we can minister to others more effectively. When we are weak, we are more aware of our need for God and more open to His grace. This awareness can lead to a deeper relationship with God and a greater ability to empathize with and minister to others who are suffering. [25:58]

2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV): "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you feel weak or inadequate? How can you invite God's grace into those areas and allow His power to be made perfect in your weakness?


Day 5: Being a Comforting Presence
Description: Like Job's friends initially did, we should sit with others in their pain and be a comforting presence without trying to explain away their suffering. This compassionate presence can be a powerful witness to the love of Christ. Being present with others in their suffering means listening, empathizing, and offering support without trying to fix their problems or provide answers. This kind of presence can provide comfort and show the love of Christ in a tangible way. [30:29]

Romans 12:15 (ESV): "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."

Reflection: Think of someone in your life who is currently going through a difficult time. How can you be a comforting presence for them today, simply by being there and showing empathy without trying to fix their problems?

You're like the voiceover that comes down?

Yeah, I've done a voiceover.

Like the voice of the Lord?

Yeah.

I have been on a podcast.

Yeah, it was like, might've been the campus takeover series.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, we did.

Okay. Good to be with you guys again.

And I am the campus pastor at the best campus, the Menlo Park campus.

And what was the question?

And that's what I do. I'm a campus pastor. I've been at Menlo for a long time.

Yeah.

And Troy coming on board at the Menlo Park campus, that he was an answer to our prayer.

Mm-hmm.

Because just his heart for just caring for people and not rushing through, but spending time, sitting with people, getting to know them.

And just, he was phenomenal at building trust and just embodying the love of Christ.

And then he got this crazy idea of being a campus pastor.

That's so funny.

And then he went off to San Mateo.

Yeah.

Yeah. I grew up in the Chicago area.

That's right.

I was born in Chicago, grew up in the northern suburbs, and went to seminary a few years after college.

Went to Fuller down in Pasadena.

Met my wife there.

I didn't know that.

Yeah.

She was at Fuller?

She was at Fuller.

She was working on her marriage and family therapy degree.

So she worked as an MFT for a while.

And the first church I served was back in the Midwest, in Northwest Indiana, where two of our three kids were born, actually.

And I was there for seven years.

And then a church in this really rough part of the country called North County San Diego, five minutes from the beach.

It was tough.

It was, you know, you do what you got to do.

Straight out of La Jolla.

All right.

Pretty much.

Rancho Santa Fe, yeah.

And at that church, I wasn't actively, you know, looking at going anywhere, but I had friends that had been a part of Menlo.

I'd had friends from, like, high school that had gone to Stanford and had been involved at Menlo.

I had friends from seminary that had been a part of Menlo, including Scott Palmwish, one of our executive pastors, that we were friends in seminary.

And there was just a reputation that was there.

And I was just kind of looking through and saw this application for a mission pastor.

And I thought, well, what the heck? I'll just throw my name in.

And it moved pretty quickly.

I ended up here in 2007.

Wow.

Wow.

Been nine years as in missions, five years campus pastor in Mountain View, and then since then here in Menlo Park.

Okay.

Okay.

Don't tell anyone.

But it's a little bit of both, to be honest.

Okay.

Because it's a joy.

It's fun to be able to get up and teach.

And when it's not part of your normal routine, that rhythm is not built into my weekly or monthly schedule.

So it's kind of like, okay, where do I rearrange, shoehorn, find time to study?

The other stuff doesn't stop.

So it's kind of a joy and a little bit of a stomach churn of like, oh, how are we going to do this?

The beauty is all the campus pastors get together.

We met with Phil a month beforehand.

We went through the passage.

We studied the passage.

We brainstormed on different ideas and main themes and made sure we were all pointed in the same direction, which helps a lot instead of all four of us trying to create it completely from scratch.

We each wrote our own sermons, prepared our own sermons, but we had the same kind of building blocks in place.

Yeah, I completely came to the opposite conclusion from Troy.

Classic.

No, I mean, very much the same themes.

I mean, there were two major chunks as we looked at those verses.

One is that there is a purpose in our problems, that even though we may not see it, like Troy said, in the midst of pain, in the midst of suffering, the last thing I want to hear is someone just be like, hey, it's all going to work.

It's all going to work out together for good.

Right.

As if I'm not actually suffering, as if I'm not in pain.

We don't want to rush to that as a trite platitude.

But there is a purpose because God doesn't waste anything.

God doesn't waste a moment.

I talked about how God can bring light out of darkness.

God brings sight out of blindness.

God brings life out of death.

And no matter what the world can throw at us, God is able in a way that only God can do to bring some redemptive good out of it.

And that doesn't mean that all things are good.

It doesn't mean that God caused all of these things to happen to you.

But it means even when bad things happen, even when we go through painful times, because we all go through times of pain and loss or suffering, God can weave some kind of redemptive thread through that that shapes who I become, which I get to take into eternity, that molds us into more the image of Christ in our character.

And ultimately, and this is where this 28 and 29 and 30, they could be two sermons, but they also flow together because we know the end result.

We know what God is going to do in the end, and it's going to be something good, and it's good for us, and it's going to be good for the good of creation.

We may not see it in the moment.

I talked about how in this whole section about God foreknew and predestined and conformed, there's a lot of really heavy theological words here that we get all tripped up.

And you get in arguments over, but at the end of the day, God's purpose is going to be realized in us as we trust in him.

And that can carry us through some of those trials, that even though our path might seem like a rat's nest, a complete maze, it may not make sense to us in the moment, and we're saying, God, where are you?

You know, God has a purpose in it, and there's a promise.

That was the second part of the sermon, is that there's a promise through our path.

It does not make sense of it, God's promise of what he's going to do in us and through us and the future glory that we get to experience with God.

It does make it all worth it.

I have not.

Well, watch the sermon online.

What is a ding-dum?

I am still not sure.

I just shared at the beginning a quick story from when I was an undergraduate.

Curveball there, Troy.

Because I was kind of intimidated by Philadelphia.

Yeah.

I was intimidated by Philadelphia.

Like, it's a new thing for men, though.

We've got that, you know, this cool smart board that you can highlight and everything.

And I had not used it before, like, three days before the sermon.

I had not actually used that board.

So I'm like, okay, I hope I can preach a sermon and hit the right highlight button in the right color.

Because in college, I'm dating myself here.

I don't know about you, Troy, but I still typed my papers on a typewriter when I was in college.

Like, PCs and, like, the original, like, Apple Mac thing that looked like a big box.

Those were just coming out.

I had a roommate who had gotten one.

And it was like, what is this magic?

But I typed on a typewriter.

So it was the night before a final paper.

I was an anthropology major.

It was a paper on a certain kingdom, the Betzelio kingdom, which I think was in Madagascar in, like, the 18th century or something.

A whole paper about this kingdom, right?

This anthropology people do.

And I had made a typo the whole time.

And I didn't realize I was making that typo.

And this is a dumb typewriter.

So it doesn't, no spell check, nothing like that.

The whole paper.

And I didn't know this until after I got the paper back.

Because I was doing it the night before and past midnight and rushed to turn it in by the 9 a.m. deadline.

I didn't proofread the thing, clearly.

So I got this paper back.

And throughout this whole paper, it said, nice paper, but what exactly is a dingdom?

Because every single time, instead of the word kingdom, I typed the word dingdom.

So, you know, I'm sure the anthropology professor got a good laugh out of it.

And I felt like an idiot.

But, you know, it was funny.

That's what a dingdom is.

The dingdom of God.

It's just right.

So it gets you right here, right?

Yeah.

Those are great questions.

Yeah.

Both of them.

And, yeah, this is a passage that, you know, I'm in the midst of also.

Mm-hmm.

Just because you work at a church or a pastor doesn't mean that, you know, everything just is this smooth, glorious, you know, that there's no pain or suffering.

Mm-hmm.

And sometimes we...

We don't see where God's purpose is in the midst of it.

And sometimes we struggle to say, okay, God, what is your promise in the midst of this thing?

And it just, you know, I don't like where I am right now.

Yeah.

And just a real brief, you know, where I'm...

And I talked about this toward the end of the message.

You know, I'm in a season right now where I've had a couple of years where I've been at that age where, you know, I'm the caregiver for my parents.

Yeah.

And so last year, their health started to decline.

Yeah.

They lived...

Yeah... on the East Coast, and I was making a lot of trips out there and kind of taking over the financial matters and their health care decisions.

And in January, my dad passed away, and I dropped everything and flew out to North Carolina and did a graveside service for him.

And as I'm wrestling with that, my mom's cognitive decline, dementia, really started to advance.

But after he passed, she said, I want to move to California to be with closer to you guys, to my family.

Mm-hmm.

And so we just moved her out here in June, and then a couple of weeks before this sermon, I was noticing some symptoms, ended up taking her to the ER.

And she's a cancer survivor, and the cancer is back with a vengeance.

Mm-hmm.

And she has tumors all throughout her.

There's nothing they can do.

She's lived a good life.

I mean, she's 88, but they don't expect her to live through the end of this year.

And so I'm looking at this year where it's like, okay, I've just seen...

Yeah... having lost one and probably losing the other.

And so I'm looking at this year where it's like, okay, I've lost one and probably losing the other in the coming months of my parents.

It's just hard.

Yeah.

That's just hard.

It's normal.

Everybody goes through it.

And it's not fun.

It's painful.

So I was really thinking, okay, what does God teach me in all this?

That here's a situation.

I can't change it.

Right.

I can't fix it.

I can't make the cancer go away.

God didn't cause the cancer, but cancer's a product of a fallen, broken world.

And one day, God will make it all new, but it's not now.

Mm-hmm.

And...

Mm-hmm.

Can I still cling to this promise?

Do I still believe that, okay, in the midst of my mom having cancer and me watching and walking with her through cancer as she is starting to decline, like, how do I hold to that promise?

What does that mean for me?

What is God saying to me in that?

How is God shaping me?

Not that the process is a fun process, but do I really believe that God is working all of this together for good?

Right.

And I can say for my mom, yeah, because you know what?

Soon, she's not going to be suffering at all.

She's a believer.

She's going to be in...

Yeah.

God's presence dwelling in glory forever.

It's like, okay, she's going to be okay.

You know, those of us who are left here, we're sad, and we grieve that, and yet God can use that grief to make us more attentive to others, teach me to, like, slow down and just be with people and be an unhurried friend, teach me that, you know, what it means to be a presence when I can't fix something.

Yeah.

I can't fix a problem like this.

Mm-hmm.

And what does it mean to just be present?

And that's something that God is doing in me, because I'd much rather jump in and fix it.

So that's where that personal peace is coming from.

Yeah.

And it certainly confronts us every day.

That is so good.

That is so good, Troy.

Makes me wish I had stolen that and put that in my sermon.

That there is such a need to avoid pain, to medicate ourselves from pain, to deflect it somehow, or, you know, shift it to someone else in anger.

You know, anything to avoid having to sit in pain.

Because who likes that?

None of us do.

None of us want to do that.

And yet, I think there's a quote from Richard Rohr, which I almost put in the sermon but didn't, about how, you know, when we can't rush too quickly.

We can't rush too quickly out of pain or grief, because it always has something to teach us.

It always has something to teach us that we desperately need to learn.

And unless we sit there long enough and let God minister to us and begin to experience the deeper grace and mercy of God, even in the midst of pain, then we are numbing ourselves to the fullness of life.

And we're numbing us to the joy that can come when we see how God does work through all this.

Wow.

You can't get it any other way, and you can't short-circuit that.

That's right.

And I think that's why Paul, you know, elsewhere talks about how, you know, God's grace is made perfect and known in our weakness.

That when we are willing to walk through that and sit in that, we also discover that might be where God wants to show up the most in our lives.

That might be the place where I am most able to really experience and realize God's healing power.

And that becomes the place where I'm best able to minister to others.

I mean, who better to help walk with an addict in 12-step programs know this than someone else that's been a recovering addict who can be their sponsor and say, I've been there.

I mean, when we're going through suffering, when there's someone that's like, I've been through that.

It's like, no one knows exactly what we're going through because we're each different.

But, you know, when there are people that have been there and they have that compassion and they have that experience, you know, we desperately, we need that.

I think we short-circuit that process of what God wants to do in us and through us when we gloss through it too fast.

Yeah.

Josh is a better Christian than I am.

And of course, we know that.

Yeah, we do.

Lord, get me out of this.

I don't like it.

I'm out of here.

Well, I think you said it in the question in the sense of how can we sit with them?

And, you know, in a sense, Troy is right that this is a passage that's directed toward the Christian community.

It says, for the good of those who love him.

That's a very common term for, you know, people of God.

And God works in everybody's lives.

That's true.

God will work through circumstances and everybody to draw them to himself.

But I'm thinking about, you know, Job when everything went wrong in his life and he lost his home, his family, his livestock, his wealth.

Like it just crumbled.

And he had these three friends that showed up.

And the first thing they did was the only good thing they did.

They sat with him for seven.

And they didn't say a word.

They just sat with him and they were with him.

And then they opened their mouths and they tried to explain it all the way.

And well, that must've been because of this and blah, blah, blah.

And it went downhill from there.

But I think for the neighbor that is not a believer, sometimes what God teaches us in our pain is we're more comfortable sitting with them in theirs.

We don't have to explain it away or try to.

In fact, that would actually probably be worse.

We can just sit and say, we can become that presence of God with them.

By sitting and saying that, that stinks.

That's really hard.

That must really hurt.

What can I do?

I'm here for you.

And sometimes that witness alone will make people think, you know, what, why are you, why are you, how can you be that way?

That, hey, this, my neighbor just came alongside and just entered into this painful thing with me.

That will be the aroma of Christ to them in a lot of ways.

More than any kind of words.

Because what's someone going to say?

Why, why does this happen?

I don't know.

I wish I knew, but I'm here with you and it's hard and you're not alone.

And hopefully there's a time, and it may not be right in that moment, when we do have a chance to give an answer for the hope that we have.

When they come around and say, you know what, you just, how did you maintain your hope?

What kept you going when you were going through whatever it was?

And then there's an opportunity to share.

It's like, you know what, my faith and what God is doing in my life.

And I believe that this life isn't all that there is.

And that there's a, can be a comfort and a presence here and now that, you know, we get to enjoy forever.

And that's what keeps me going.

And, you know, we don't need to force it down somebody's throat.

But, you know, be ready to answer, but we don't have to rush, throw that at them right at the beginning.

Oh, well, we're the big cash prizes.

He doesn't know it yet.

Don't tell Phil.

Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun.

I mean, this is a way to kind of rally our volunteers.

We have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers across our campuses.

Helping with kids ministry and students ministry and worship and the tech stuff behind the scenes and group leaders and care.

There's all kinds of ways people invest their gifts.

And this is a chance to celebrate them, to just enjoy some time together, to share some vision of what we're looking at in this coming year.

Some of the opportunities to grow and some little breakouts that will help equip our church to be just be better equipped for this coming year.

And we're really excited about it.

It'll be a lot of fun.

Yeah.

See ya.

Bye.

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "God doesn't waste anything. God doesn't waste a moment. I talked about how God can brought light out of darkness. God brings sight out of blindness. God brings life out of death. And no matter what the world can throw at us, God is able in a way that only God can do to bring some redemptive good out of it." [11:19] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Even when bad things happen, even when we go through painful time, because we all go through times of pain and loss or suffering, God can weave some kind of redemptive thread through that that shapes who I become, which I get to take into eternity, that molds us into more the image of Christ in our character." [12:04] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "We know the end result. We know what God is going to do in the end, and it's going to be something good, and it's good for us, and it's going to be good for the good of creation. We may not see it in the moment." [12:04] (11 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "God's purpose is going to be realized in us as we trust in him. And that can carry us through some of those trials, that even though our path might seem like a rat's nest, a complete maze, it may not make sense to us in the moment, and we're saying, God, where are you? You know, God has a purpose in it, and there's a promise." [12:04] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "We can't rush too quickly out of pain or grief, because it always has something to teach us. It always has something to teach us that we desperately need to learn. And unless we sit there long enough and let God minister to us and begin to experience the deeper grace and mercy of God, even in the midst of pain, then we are numbing ourselves to the fullness of life." [25:58] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


### Quotes for Members

1. "I'm in a season right now where I've had a couple of years where I've been at that age where, you know, I'm the caregiver for my parents. And so last year, their health started to climb. They lived on the East Coast, and I was making a lot of trips out there and kind of taking over the financial matters and their health care decisions. And in January, my dad passed away, and I dropped everything and flew out to North Carolina and did a graveside service for him." [20:10] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "I can't fix a problem like this. And what does it mean to just be present? And that's something that God is doing in me, because I'd much rather jump in and fix it. So that's where that personal peace is coming from. And it certainly confronts us every day." [22:51] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "When we are willing to walk through that and sit in that, we also discover that might be where God wants to show up the most in our lives. That might be the place where I am most able to really experience and realize God's healing power. And that becomes the place where I'm best able to minister to others." [27:54] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Sometimes what God teaches us in our pain is we're more comfortable sitting with them in theirs. We don't have to explain it away or try to. In fact, that would actually probably be worse. We can just sit and say, we can become that presence of God with them. By sitting and saying that, that stinks. That's really hard. That must really hurt. What can I do? I'm here for you." [30:29] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Hopefully there's a time, and it may not be right in that moment, when we do have a chance to give an answer for the hope that we have. When they come around and say, you know what, you just, how did you maintain your hope? What kept you going when you were going through whatever it was? And then there's an opportunity to share." [31:37] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)