Even though the Holy Spirit compelled him to go to Jerusalem, Paul ended up getting arrested, beaten, almost killed, jailed without just cause for several years, then shipwrecked, and almost killed in his journey to Rome.

Why do bad things happen to good people? They happen because there are bad people making them happen. It's not God who causes bad things to happen. Yet, because God's sovereignty is unimaginably awesome, God can use even bad things to do good.

How does God use suffering to do good? (1) He can use it to bring people closer to himself; (2) he can use it to build character and hope; (3) He can use it to correct us or help us grow; and (4) sometimes, we just don't know how.

God is not a person who is estranged from suffering. He suffered for us and is suffering along side of us. He is involved in suffering. He is the crucified God. So, even when we don't know why we are suffering, we know one thing for sure: we know it is not because God doesn't care for us.