Those people can be the worst. You know who “those people” are, right? We all have them, and they are difficult to like, much less love. So it’s helpful to know that Jesus had “those people” too, and his love for them drove him to understand them.

There is more to your circumstances than meets the eye. Your current circumstances are a chapter. They are not the full story.

While we don't always choose our circumstances, we do have the ability to choose our responses. But the response that has the potential to reverse the natural course of things isn't natural at all.

For many of us, there's something we wish we'd been doing all along to prepare for what is happening now. Whatever lessons we’re learning, now is the time to start putting them into practice.

We avoid things we don’t like. But sometimes things come our way that we can’t avoid. When our circumstances deteriorate, what do we do when there’s nothing we can do?

Perhaps nothing characterized the life of Jesus more than his pursuit of people whose lives and lifestyles did not look like his. If we fail to listen to people who don't experience the world the way we do, we will never bear their burden.

Christians have never believed in a God who doesn’t allow bad things to happen to good people. Christians believe the worst possible thing happened to the best possible person.

When we’re in the midst of pain and suffering, it can feel like we’ll never be happy again, nothing good can come from our circumstances, and there’s no reason to continue living. But those are lies. God can redeem, use, and work through our pain. And when he does, we eventually have the opportunity to comfort others. There is a “Fellowship of Suffering.” People who’ve suffered are uniquely equipped and qualified to comfort people who are suffering.

Jesus told his followers that unavoidable trials aren’t aberrations; they are expectations. They can actually serve a beneficial purpose. Why? Because God can redeem, use, or work through the undeserved, unavoidable, circumstantial trials in our lives. But in order for that to happen, we have to believe and persevere.

What do you do when there’s nothing you can do? Relationally, financially, professionally, physically, or academically, It just is what it is. There’s nothing you can do to change your situation. Challenging circumstances can make you jealous or resentful. They can make you angry with God. They can breed discontentment. But the problem with discontentment is that it can drive you in self-destructive directions that will eventually leave you with regret. So, what is the secret of finding contentment even when times are tough?