Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have suffering or pain, or are rejected, hungry, frustrated, degraded, or disabled? No, despite experiencing all these things, Hilda Bih Muluh has experienced overwhelming victory through Christ, who loves her.

God has promised wonderful things to his children. Salvation from sin. The hope of eternal life. The constant presence of the Holy Spirit. But there is one thing God has never promised us: that our lives will be free from suffering.

I have been excited to write about Oasis’s Core Values for some time. Why? Because I really love working with my co-workers to accomplish Oasis’s mission. Our work is guided and formed in our daily activities, meetings, and interaction with those we serve by our core values. So I hope if you have the chance to interact with one of us, you can take a step back and say, “I see that; I see that value they live by. I can see how that person treats and respects me, how they genuinely care about what God has called me to do.”

When we talk about the promises of Jesus, we rarely mention his promise that living on earth will come with trials and sorrows. We can all be confident that as we live our lives, we will experience much grief, disappointment, pain, and hardship. Some will last for only a season; some will last a lifetime. You probably don’t have to think very hard to remember the suffering you’ve experienced already.

Marriage is beautiful. Instituted by God himself, the loving union of a husband and wife is one of the most powerful witnesses for the gospel. It is also among the most difficult things two humans can do.