"For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God."

We are willing to go down to any pit, like David's mighty men fighting giants and lions, so long as we give victory unto Israel and encouragement to the saints. We'll endure any gloom, conflict, and war, so long as God is with us by faith, and this HE MUST BE, for he'll never leave us nor forsake us!

Trials humble us and purge our souls! They make us more useful. "So death works in us, but life in you [vs11]." They enable us to speak a word to the weary and the wounded [vs13]. They increase faithfulness to God.

Oh, let us be heroic on downcast days, refusing to doubt God, taking hold of Jesus's example, so the elect can draw near. Let us suffer anything, so long as we believe him. Let's endure it all, so we can encourage someone else. Vs13, "But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, therefore we also speak."