Troubles and Joys

II Corinthians 4:18   

So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

O my Father, You are the God of the Universe; You are El Shaddai, God Almighty. Yet You have looked down and seen us, who are made of dust. You steer the planets in their courses and call them by name, and You count the very hairs on our heads. Your love is totally unfathomable to our human understanding; You care for our every need, and generously provide for us out of Your riches in glory. You take us out of the miry clay and set our feet upon the Rock. You love us just as we are, but You don't leave us there; Your work in us is molding and shaping us into the people You created us to be. And all the trials and troubles we experience now are serving to teach us Your ways.