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They were the most hated group in the world. They make up less than 1% of the world population yet they have endured persecution in almost every part of the world and faced the most dehumanizing of all acts. It is their story of suffering, their untold story of hatred that I will recount for you.

"TEL AVIV, Israel - Israel is developing an army of robotic fighting machines that offers a window onto the potential future of warfare. Sixty years of near-constant war, a low tolerance for enduring casualties in conflict, and its high-tech industry have long made Israel one of the world's leading innovators of military robotics. WSJ's Charles Levinson reports from Jerusalem to discuss Israel's development of robotic, unmanned combat systems. He tells Simon Constable on the News Hub how they are deploying unmanned boats, ground vehicles and aerial vehicles. "We're trying to get to unmanned vehicles everywhere on the battlefield for each platoon in the field," says Lt. Col. Oren Berebbi, head of the Israel Defense Forces' technology branch. "We can do more and more missions without putting a soldier at risk." In 10 to 15 years, one-third of Israel's military machines will be unmanned, predicts Giora Katz, vice president of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., one of Israel's leading weapons manufacturers. "We are moving into the robotic era," says Mr. Katz. Over 40 countries have military-robotics programs today. The U.S. and much of the rest of the world is betting big on the role of aerial drones: Even Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite guerrilla force in Lebanon, flew four Iranian-made drones against Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, it had just a handful of drones. Today, U.S. forces have around 7,000 unmanned vehicles in the air and an additional 12,000 on the ground, used for tasks including reconnaissance, airstrikes and bomb disposal. In 2009, for the first time, the U.S. Air Force trained more "pilots" for unmanned aircraft than for manned fighters and bombers."

Trials in life are certainly not desirable! They are not comfortable, they may cause us pain and inconvenience, but when they are brought by God into our lives there is most definitely something He wants us to learn from them!

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither…" ~ Psalm 1:2-3a"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season…" ~ 2 Timothy 4:2a

How do we see Jesus? Is Jesus our Saviour onto eternal life in fellowship with God? Or, Is Jesus a tool to fix problems in this life? When faced with life's problems what do we want from Jesus? Do we want exercise our faith or ease our flesh? Do we want His "strength to be made perfect" in our "weakness"?

When some followers of Christ find themselves suffering, their immediate response is "Lord, deliver me from this, immediately!" He can and sometimes He does. But He often does not. When He does not, it may be because it is His will to grow spiritual character in the life of His follower.

…the Believer who is completing his course of suffering for Christ's sake is completing the process of ceasing from sin. In other words, suffering for Christ's sake transforms the Believer from sin-FULL to sin-LESS; suffering for Christ's sake perfects Believers.