In life, difficult times come to all of us, without any real explanation. Going through suffering has the potential to devastate and destroy us, or to be a gateway to gratitude and joy. Elisabeth Elliot was no stranger to suffering. Her first husband, Jim, was murdered by the Waorani people in Ecuador, moments after he arrived, hoping to share the gospel. She lost her second husband to cancer. Yet it was in her deepest suffering that she learned the most profound lessons about God. Why doesn't God do something about suffering? He does, He did, He is, and He will. Suffering and love are inexplicably linked, as evidenced by God's love for His people in the fact that He sent Jesus to bear our sins, afflictions, and sufferings on the cross, and bore what was not His so that we would not have to bear it. He has walked the ultimate path of suffering and has won the victory on our behalf. This truth led Elisabeth to say, "Whatever is in the cup that God is offering me, be it pain, sorrow, and suffering, and grief along with many more joys, I am willing to accept it because I trust Him."
