Resources by Topic: Suffering and Evil

Though we don’t know exactly when, we do know for sure that either by our deaths or by Christ’s return, our suffering will end. From before the beginning, God drew the line in eternity’s sand to say for His children, “This much and no more, then endless joy.”

God invites us to ask questions. He invites us to dig for answers in His Word and trust it over our experiences. He’s very patient and wants interactions with us based on our trust in Him. Asking “Why?” will not annoy Him, especially if you are willing to humbly accept that His answer to you may be similar to the answer Job received, which was essentially, “You’re not God, I AM.”

In this clip from a Q&A at an illumiNations gathering, Randy talks about the problem of suffering. He shares about his own experience of grieving his wife Nanci, and how the Bible allows us to face the hardest questions of life in the light of God’s sovereignty.

I first posted about “the problem of goodness” on my blog 14 years ago, but it is still relevant to conversations I’m having today with others (nothing has changed other than the fact that I am 14 years older!). People always talk about the problem of evil, and how it threatens the Christian worldview, but they almost never talk about the problem of goodness and how it threatens non-Christian worldviews.

I’m so sorry to hear about your loss, and the added pain and regret that you have felt in the wake of your daughter’s death. I’m praying for you and your family as I write this. This is a very long reply to your message, but perhaps something I share will be of help to you.

Randy Alcorn was on the Do Hard Things podcast with The Rebelution to talk about the hope we have in Heaven (and what Heaven is really going to be like). He shared how this hope has sustained him through his own season of loss and suffering.

I was not speaking literally. As you point out, angels are not biological humans. “Twins” simply means an equal opposite in this case.

Nancy Guthrie has written many books over the years, including What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts), which one of our staff read and recommended to me. I always love Nancy’s writings, but this book is just really good. Here are some quotes from it.

Randy visited California Baptist University in Riverside, California where he shared at their chapel. He spoke about suffering, Heaven, and the goodness of God, and also about his wife Nanci and her faithfulness through cancer. The date he spoke was actually the one-year anniversary of the day the Alcorn family of 11 gathered around her bed, and Nanci spoke powerfully into their lives. A week later, she went to be with Jesus.

Randy visited Liberty University and spoke to the student body about a theology of suffering. He shared some of his personal experiences of hardship, and also talked about the hope of Heaven and what that means to him now that his beloved wife Nanci is there.

On March 21, I gave a 30-minute chapel message at California Baptist University. They asked me to talk about suffering and Heaven, in light of Nanci’s homegoing, so I shared about Nanci and quoted from her journal. That date I spoke was actually the one-year anniversary of the day our family of 11 gathered around her bed, and Nanci spoke powerfully into our lives. A week later, she went to be with Jesus.

On December 29, 2018, Nanci wrote in her journal, reflecting on the year since her diagnosis in early 2018: “Last year at this time, I was impressed in my heart that 2018 might be the best year of my life. I had few tangible reasons why I felt this way.”

We may want to turn away from world suffering and refuse to reflect on the significance of our own pain; we just want it to go away. But despite the superficiality of our culture, we remain God’s image-bearers—thinking and caring people, wired to ask questions and seek answers.

The basic problem with the health-and-wealth gospel is that it is man-centered rather than God-centered. When approached from the prosperity posture, prayer degenerates into coercion, where we “name it and claim it,” pulling God’s leash until He comes through. We attempt to arm-twist the Almighty into underwriting comfortable, suffering-free lifestyles.