Lloyd-Jones:
“(4) God’s will and God’s ways are a great mystery, but I know that whatever he wills or permits is of necessity for my good; and (5) Every situation in life is the unfolding of some manifestation of God’s love and goodness. Therefore my business is to look for this peculiar manifestation of God’s goodness and kindness and to be prepared for surprises and blessings because ‘his ways are not my ways, neither his thoughts my thoughts.’”

We can be content in Christ because “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom.8:28-29).

“What can the sinner expect if the Beloved Son was so afflicted?” Martin Luther

“‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’…we must answer, ‘Yes, we were there.’ Not as spectators only but as participants, guilty participants…Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.” John Stott, The Cross of Christ