What Dr. Stanley says about how God works. Here's some of what he said today: "When anything or anyone becomes more important to us than the Lord, we have an idol in our lives. To protect us, God sometimes uses adversity to strip away everything we have relied upon so that we'll cling only to Him. The chisel hurts--it sometimes feels as if God is taking away everything we hold dear. Unless you understand His goal and believe He's working for your good, you'll think He's cruel. But if you trust Him and yield to His shaping tool of adversity, your faith will be purified and strengthened through affliction."

Dr. Stanley will be 80 years old next month. And surely he has had more Christian experience than I. Certainly, he has had more tribulation. But, maybe he hasn't. A woman's tribulations are much different than a man's. It doesn't matter if a man or woman is in a place of public leadership or not. The heart is what matters. I often feel that God has left me. As my husband says, "I wouldn't treat my bride like that!" And he's right. The scripture also says that God's ways are not like our ways. And that is certainly true. I would not treat my children the way God allows us to be treated. So, is Dr. Stanley right? I don't know. Certainly he is correct in saying that the chisel hurts. But is he correct in saying that whatever God allows is okay because it makes us stronger? I don't know about that. I think, personally, that it hurts sometimes so badly that it sends us away from God.