Suffering and Evil

I appreciated the following interview by Vaneetha Rendall Risner with author and professor Terry Powell about depression, the Christian life, and the holidays. I loved what he shared about his dog, and really all of what he had to say. It’s excellent.

Recently, I was interviewed on The Thinking Out Loud Podcast with Kevin and Kyle. In our conversation, which centered around my book If God Is Good, we discussed evil and suffering, faith, healing and much more. The last year and a half have been tough on many people in many ways, (including for us as Nanci battles cancer), so the subject of suffering feels especially pertinent right now.

It’s not so much the burdens themselves that automatically lead to reward. It’s our heart response to them that matters: the character-byproducts produced and the heart of faith that trusts Jesus even when things don’t make sense from our perspective.

Tim Challies, one of my favorite writers, recently wrote some reflections about Psalm 23. He and his family have walked through a dark valley after the sudden death of their 20-year-old son Nick last year. Like many before him, he has found deep comfort in this psalm.