Grace is the operative force in the kingdom of God. Grace does not take away human suffering or pain, illness or death, however it refuses to let human suffering and hardship, illness or even death become tragic and therefore meaninglessness. Grace is the way in which God takes what we meant for evil, takes the alienation and suffering caused by sin, takes our fallen human condition and uses it as an opportunity to reveal God's deeper love and to show that deeper than our sin is the radical love of God, Who loves us with a love that will never let us go. We have all been or presently find ourselves in situations that were or are difficult to bear. These were or might be circumstances beyond our control, circumstances that we find ourselves in, circumstances that we didn't choose or may be the result of bad choices.
Life is full of discouragement and disappointment.
We lose our ideals, let down by people who could have made a difference in our lives or in the world. Children who were full of so much potential are tormented by drugs and alcohol and haunted with feelings and thoughts about themselves and the world which make their lives almost unbearable. Elderly find themselves alone and hunger just to be touched. Loved ones suffer needlessly, caught in a matrix of anger and greed and the inability to forgive. Loved ones are ill.