“The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day.
Either he will shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings” (Francis de Sales).

This is an either/or that counts as a win-win. Either God shields you from suffering or He gives you unfailing strength to bear it. In both cases, God is with you. In both cases, you see God’s hand at work. In both cases, you come out on the other side with stronger faith and a deeper love for God.

I think this current culture is one of the most anxious cultures in history. It seems to me that’s because we have instant access to more information these days. In fact, it’s an overwhelming amount of information, more than we know what to do with. We weren’t meant to carry the burden of all that weight of knowledge.

In fact, it’s not your job to fix everything. That’s God’s job. And the last time I checked, He wasn’t looking for any help. He’s been doing just fine managing the whole world for as long as the whole world has existed. And that’s way longer than you or I have existed.

God’s job is also to take care of you, whether that means going around suffering or going through it. In both cases, God is fully present. In the case of suffering, sometimes we are more acutely aware of that presence because we are more keenly aware of our need of it.

In either case, we are in good hands.