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The Hebrew Bible and the Jewish sages describe the Messiah in more detail than many realize. From these writings we can know his genealogical background, place of birth, the timeframe of his arrival, and other identifying characteristics. These credentials enable us to identify the Messiah and to recognize imposters. Only a few can be listed below; there are many others. Early rabbis and sages recognized all of these passages as referring to the Messiah....

Sometimes we make the foolish assumption that our heavenly Father has no right to insist that we trust Him unless He makes His infinite wisdom completely understandable to us. But if God offered us constant explanations for the circumstances we face, our lives would not be free or normal, and would not allow for faith or trust.

I think of my friend John Franklin, who was playing softball when he was then a healthy thirty-nine-year-old.....

We live in a time when we are defined as disabled, bipolar, alcoholic, ADHD, victims of lupus, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and nearly everything else. Our condition easily becomes our primary reference point.

I am an insulin-dependent diabetic, but my disease doesn’t define me. I learn what’s necessary, take care of myself, and live. I shouldn’t become preoccupied with a disease any more than with a career, a hobby, possessions, or a retirement program. I want Jesus Christ first, and my family second, and then my church and ministry to define my life.... 

The more I learned about him, the more I wanted to pass the insights on to other people who were struggling through hardships. I even wrote a book about it, listing reason after reason as to “why God allows suffering.” I detailed as many spiritual benefits from suffering as I could think of: how it refines our faith, develops self-control, exposes sin, makes us dependent on God, teaches us to follow the Word, helps us empathize with other hurting people, binds Christians together, and fosters humility. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Now, these are all true and good benefits of suffering, but years later when I started to struggle with chronic pain—and later, battled cancer— the overwhelming weight of my suffering seemed to far exceed any benefit that might result....

 After more than fifty-five years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering.

After breaking her neck in a diving accident at age seventeen, Joni faced suffering that felt unbearable and obstacles that looked insurmountable. 

In our society, we avoid suffering—running away from it if we can or numbing its effects if we can’t. Even Christ-followers struggle with this. At the onset of a life-transforming injury or the birth of a child with disabilities, our faith is shaken to the core. Instinctively, we want the comfortable and convenient way. Unless our hearts are firmly anchored in God’s promises, or our faith has been proven and refined through earlier disappointments, we will easily collapse under life-altering troubles that foretell doom and gloom.

In the early years of my quadriplegia, I was horrified at the prospect of remaining paralyzed for the rest of my life. But once my heart became riveted to God’s promises, once my faith survived the initial refining, God’s design began to dawn. It was clear: heaven and hell had participated in my terrible accident, but for different reasons.....