Thoughts...

Our response to suffering and pain is repentance. Repentance follows with thanking God for our salvation through His Son, which gives comfort in the reality of the limitedness of life in a fallen world. From the recognition of this reality comes the proper place for lament and grief, for when Paul says, "...that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope," he does not exclude "Why" and "how long". Yet that word "hope" places grieving and lamenting in the proper context of the Gospel. This hope is sure. When children ask their dear Father, "Why" and "how long", Jesus answers, "It is finished." Our reply, then, is "Amen. Come Lord Jesus." Herein lies the tension in tentatio.