Hang on. Look up!

"Shattered dreams," writes Dr. Larry Crabb, "are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story." When we go through terrible things, it can be impossible to believe that there could be a purpose in all that suffering. There have been times I've said to God, "I don't know what this is about, but whatever you're trying to do in me, it can't be worth all this pain!" Yet God is the restorer of what has been broken, the redeemer of that which is lost, the one who transforms what is useless into something worthwhile. This is what God says: "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." (Jer. 29:11) Hang on. Look up! God has it all planned out.