Sin has introduced great misery and universal disorder into the world!

(Charles Buck, 1771-1815)

"For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble - as surely as sparks fly upward!" Job 5:6-7

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows!" John 16:33

Whoever considers the manifold calamities to which mankind are exposed in the present state, must feel some emotion of sorrow.

Sin has introduced great misery and universal disorder into the world! No person, however obscure, or eminent or educated - can stand invulnerable against the arrows of adversity.

It is, however, the peculiar privilege of a godly man, that though, alike with others, he partakes of the sufferings of humanity - yet he sees a wise hand directing every event, and rendering all subservient to a grand and glorious end. He desires to learn the noble lessons of patience and submission, while his heart glows with gratitude to Him to whom he is indebted for every comfort he enjoys, and without whose permission he knows no evil can transpire!

"We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28