Well, God can prevent every trial from entering our lives.

He can.

And he doesn't.

Why not?

That's the question that every believer must eventually answer, especially if you believe

that God is all-powerful.

If God is all-powerful, why does He allow trials into our lives?

Why does He let the car break down in the middle of nowhere?

To that end, we have a fascinating clip to address this very point, a clip from a 1996

sermon that marked the 125th anniversary of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Pastor John was

preaching Jeremiah 32 verses 36 to 42, and to introduce the text, he shared a poem and

a personal story.

Have a listen.

Our aim is to celebrate the sustaining grace of God for 125 years.

And my first question is, what is that?

What is sustaining grace?

And I want to put it in a four-line poem that I took about an hour to figure out yesterday,

and I want to say it over and over again, because when I take the time to put things in a rhyme

it is true, it just helps me, helps me, so you have to tolerate this.

What is sustaining grace?

Not grace to bar what is not bliss, nor flight from all distress, but this.

The grace that orders our trouble and pain, and then in the darkness is there to sustain.

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