Resources by Topic: Suffering and Evil

In Randy’s conversation with Davey Blackburn from Nothing Is Wasted Ministries, they discuss what it will be like to live on the New Earth—finally free from the curse, in awe of God’s glory! Randy explains how looking forward to life on the New Earth shapes how we view this present life under the curse.

There is a great phrase many say: “God is good.“ That is certainly true and an appropriate thing to proclaim. However, many of us say it routinely only when life goes our way. 

Evangelist and author Greg Stier writes, “Behind every evil in this world there is a closely knit network of highly resourced influencers who are conspiring to take down evangelical Christians and destroy the global church.”

Living with a chronic neurochemical issue successfully is exhausting, as you well know. You asked why God allows this, and it’s an honest question which everyone who’s ever struggled with the effects of Adam’s choice asks. 

In a culture that so often switches the price tags so what’s valuable looks worthless and what’s cheap demands a high price, we must regularly withdraw to Scripture and ask God’s Spirit to train our minds and consciences to recognize what’s truly good and what’s truly evil.

A reader wrote our ministry, “Why do I suffer in pain so much? Is there something I can read to gain perspective?” This is a wonderful answer from Doreen Button, one of our EPM staff. 

Randy gave a baccalaureate message to the 2024 graduates of Sam Barlow High School, including one of his grandsons. Randy also graduated from Barlow in 1972.

Sufferers commonly ask, “Why me? Why not someone else? Why haven’t my friends lost a child or their husband? Why can they walk and ride bikes while I’m in a wheelchair? Why have you treated me differently, God?”  

The devastation of tragedy feels just as real for people whose faith endures suf­fering. But because they know that others have suffered and learned to trust God anyway, they can apply that trust to God as they face their own disasters. 

Following is a modified version of my letter to someone who was experiencing intense physical pain and contemplated suicide. I share it because, though we are a small ministry without the capacity to give ongoing counsel, no doubt others may find themselves tempted to end their life and need to find hope in Jesus, or know someone who faces a similar struggle.

In her journal she kept during her cancer years, Nanci quoted Charles Spurgeon: "Oh, that we may know our God—His power, His faithfulness, His immutable love. He is one whose character excites our enthusiasm. Oh, that we may know our God by familiar fellowship with Him."

God refines us in our suffering and graciously explains why: “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this” (Isaiah 48:10). For emphasis, God repeats the reason.

Ruth Wood, reader of our magazine Eternal Perspectives, shared this wonderful follow-up to an article we included in the latest issue about God’s Heart for the Elderly and Infirm. What she wrote is remarkable and powerful, demonstrating a miracle of grace that took place in her dad’s life.

G.K. Chesterton’s character, Father Brown, said, “We are on the wrong side of the tapestry.” How true. We see the knots, the snarls, and the frayed underside. But God is on the right side of the tapestry—the side He is weaving into a beautiful work of art.