Louie Giglio - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aVsqCLyoU3o and Francis Chan- Rope Illustration: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=86dsfBbZfWs [email protected] James 1:2-4, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 1 Peter 1:7, John 3:16 Our journey does not stop because we hit a wall or we have another trigger.  We just know that this is something else the Lord is doing in our lives and trying to teach us. We may pause for a moment, but we just keep moving forward. I just want to encourage you in that. I also want to acknowledge the fact that our lives, because of the way we think, the way we view things, and the way we see things and because we're protective over ourselves and our children, a lot of what we deal with is very heavy, and it's very tiring.   So, my season may be shorter than some other podcasts that you watch, we are going to take a break because I know for me if I'm not focused on my own health, and what makes me a good mom and a good wife to my husband and I'm not going to be good for anyone else.  I want to talk to you about the benefits that come from suffering. The Bible's very clear on this.   There are benefits.  It's not just like we suffer and God allows these things to happen in our life for no reason. The Bible is very clear, and what I want to do is share a few Scriptures with you that talk about what benefits come from suffering. The first one is James 1:2-4 It says, “Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”   It doesn't mean you don't get knocked down, it just means you keep going. And that steadfastness has its full effect. It makes us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  That doesn't mean we are perfect, it means that because we allow the Lord to meet us where we are and pick us back up and keep walking with Him through this journey. Another verse is 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “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.” In a nutshell, what that means is, that when we suffer, God comforts us through the Holy Spirit, and that comfort now we have received comfort, and now we can give that comfort out because you can't give something out that you've not received. The last verse I want to share with you is 1 Peter 1:7, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” there is so much fear of man going on today, because there are people being canceled and people being targeted and, you know, there's all kinds of stuff going on. People are being silenced for lots of different reasons, and it makes me very sad. I want to give you guys this example that I saw several years ago, and it was so freeing for me.  I don't know if anyone knows who Louie Giglio is?  Several of you might, but you've probably all heard of the Hubble Telescope, which is this telescope that they launched many, many years ago and it just keeps going farther in space, and then it turns around and takes a picture of the Earth ever so often.  It sends it back to NASA. The Earth was really big and right in the center of the screen, and there was a little arrow that says you live here,  pointing to America.  The Hubble kept going and turned around and then the earth got smaller.  You live here and you could still see it. And after a while, the Earth was so little. It was a tiny dot on the screen, you live here. God just so clearly said, "I say you're precious, you're valuable, and you're worthy."