You know, all Christians, me included, really like the passages in Scripture that talk about God’s rescuing activity. We adore the stories of Daniel and his lions, David and the giant Goliath, Jonah’s underwater weekend, Jesus’ five thousand lunch guests, and Jairus’ dead sixth-grade daughter coming back to life. Personally I love passages like “the Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:14).

But think a minute. Those words from the Word invite the question—if God is so smart, loving, and omnipotent, why did he let you fall or get so bent over in the first place?

Fact 1: our falling is our fault. God didn’t make the human race sin. We chose it, chose it against his advice and warnings. Fact 2: God has indeed envisioned and decreed a place where none of his children will ever again fall or be bowed down, but we’re not there yet. It’s called heaven. We’re still on earth. Fact 3: Pain is not all bad. Pain is good when it cures us of our arrogance, kills our illusions that earth is a paradise, and illustrates our desperate need for divine help to survive the war we’re in.

Here is hope: he catches us when we fall. He will not let us be tempted beyond our ability to bear. Here is comfort: he gives strength to those who stagger under loads that make them stoop.