Thanks for the encouragement!
I was thinking about the purpose of suffering in our lives today and remembered a time in my early twenties where the Lord gave me insight about the suffering and doubt I was experiencing at the time. It was this:
When we have suffering in our life we can only take one of three tacks:
1. There is no God, no reason, no fairness, all is chaos, we are no different than other animals or plants.
2. God is evil, mean and he delights in causing suffering because he likes to see us hurt and demoralized.
3. God is good, He loves us and has a plan for our lives. He allow suffering in our life for numerous reasons and they are all intended to make us stronger in faith, closer to Him, closer to each other and eager to be with him in heaven one day.
I don't know about you, but I'm going with #3. The alternatives are either there is no God or he is evil and we are ALL doomed.