Pain is hard enough, but pain that feels wasted can be devastating.

Karen was visiting our children's doctor seven years ago and Dr. Roseberry said something that has never left her. She entered his office wondering, "Will my daughter's pain ever mean anything?" Years of swabbing her infected ears, years of therapy, years of doctor visits all take their toll.

She had no words for her feelings. So when Dr. Roseberry said, "God never wastes our pain," Karen felt like God himself was speaking. We still struggle and ask questions, but on most days we believe "all things work together for good."

Actually, I don't even feel able to give you much more than that. Some days my theology just barely works. I cling to it even as the pain continues. I wonder who these people are who have so confidently discerned the mind of God. Have they not had to struggle through a season of seemingly senseless pain?

Maybe you've got a better handle on it than I do. I think a lot more of us are hanging from a cliff's edge by our finger nails than people realize. We need fresh evidence of a God who wipes away our tears.