Suffering and Evil

On January 8, 1956 five missionaries were murdered in Ecuador: Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian and Pete Fleming.

Why doesn't God cure everyone who prays fervently for healing?

The life context of the question is all too familiar. The issue arises in our darkest hours—in the hospital ward, in the doctor's office, when the unfavorable test results return. Our need often arises unexpectedly and then consumes us.

For nearly thirty years, the phrase killing fields was synonymous with Cambodia. Between 1975 and 1979, the communist Khmer Rouge killed at least one million Cambodians in their attempt to reinvent their society.

What you say doesn’t only apply to terrorists, but to abortionists, homosexual activists, persecutors, rapists, serial killers and everyone else who has an agenda that dishonors God and violates his Word. We should certainly pray for everyone’s repentance.

I begin with five assumptions. Without them, what I have to say about counseling and suffering will not stand.

Lord, your no answer to physical healing meant yes to a deeper healing

Not surprisingly God and suffering were prominent in the commemorations of 9/11. But missing from most was the observation that there were greater horrors in 2001. This is not to minimize the pain of 9/11 but to sharpen the problem of suffering.

I am writing you this letter so that I will never forget a single part of your short little life within me. Because of you I will never be the same. 

This weekend I received a call from a Christian friend who was deeply troubled. The husband of a woman to whom she had been witnessing had been killed in the World Trade Center attack.

Many Christians are speaking this way about the murderous destruction of the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. God did not cause it, but he can use it for good. There are two reasons I do not say this.