Resources by Topic: Suffering and Evil

God’s main concern is conforming His children to the image of Christ. And He works through the chal­lenging circumstances of our lives to help develop that Christlikeness in us. We can be assured that whatever difficulty He has allowed in our lives has been Father-filtered, through His fingers of wisdom and love.

In June 2020, Tim Keller was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Last Sunday The New York Times published a interview with him, and he explained how the solid hope of the resurrection impacts his and Kathy’s lives (and his cancer). As I read, I thought about how Nanci and I would both agree 100% with what Keller says in answer to every question.

Randy and Dr. Warren talk about how to find and maintain hope in the middle of life’s difficulties, including death.

Even when we don’t see any redemptive meaning in our suffering, God can see it—and one day we will too. Therefore, we need not run from suffering or lose hope if God doesn’t remove it. We can trust that God has a purpose for whatever He permits.

In this clip Randy speaks with Dr. Lee Warren about the effect of a lack of gospel happiness in the church today. 

Why do God’s children undergo pressures, suffering, and deadly peril? Paul answers clearly: “that we might not rely on ourselves but on God” (2 Corinthians 1:11). God uses our weakness and inadequacy not only to build our character, but also to manifest His strength and grace to us and through us.

God’s Word contains countless expressions of concern and anguish about the hard times people experience and the fact that they sometimes don’t feel God’s closeness. In this fallen world, “Why?” is a common question.

The fact that we really don’t know what Paul’s thorn was turns out to be both merciful and instructive to us. It’s merciful because, given the various possibilities, we all can identify with Paul to some degree in our afflictions. It’s instructive because what Paul’s thorn was isn’t the point. The point is what God’s purpose was for the thorn.

In this clip, Randy addresses the conflicts that COVID has created in our churches. He shares some thoughts from his wife Nanci, and what she has learned through her journey with cancer.

Randy had a conversation with Dr. Lee Warren about his book Happiness, what true happiness is, and how to find delight even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Their conversation touched on Randy's personal experiences and ministry, as well as a current writing project. 

Last fall I had the privilege of being on a Zoom call talking about Heaven and the New Earth with a dozen or so moms who had lost children to the same kind of brain cancer. It was an unforgettable 2 1/2 hours, looking into the faces of all these dear women, most of them close to the camera where the tears and the pain were clearly visible.

Some Christians constantly assign this mishap to Satan, that one to evil people, another to themselves, still others to God. Sometimes they are right, but how can they be sure which is which? Second Corinthians 12 makes clear that God works through everything that comes our way, no matter whom it comes from. 

Tim Challies, whose son went to be with Jesus last year, wrote an article about Helpful Things You Can Say to Grieving Parents. His advice applies to anyone wanting to know what to say to someone who is grieving or going through deep suffering.

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.