A Reason for Bad Things That Happen

Like the emery and sand with which we scour off rude surfaces, evil and trouble in this world are but instruments. And they are in the hands of God. If they bite with sharp attrition, it is because we need more scouring. It is because men's troubles need ruder handling and chiseling, that evils float in the air, swim in the sea, and spring up from out of the ground. But it is under the control of the God of consolation, . . . the God of comfort, and the Father of mercies.
--Henry Ward Beecher