I’m sharing a guest blog today that is, to me, breathtaking and somewhat stunning. It won’t strike everyone as encouraging, perhaps, because it comes out of pain. However, I think it’s a bold and valuable perspective, one that we need to hear.

We share this in common with Job—God doesn’t specifically explain why He permits evil and suffering to fall upon us. He wants us to trust Him. In one sense, Job is everyman.

If God offered us constant explanations for the circumstances we face, our lives would not be free or normal, and would not allow for faith or trust.

I greatly appreciated these thoughts EPM staff member Shauna Hernandez recently shared about the loss of her mom and trusting God in grief. What she wrote is beautiful and powerful, and applicable to any who have suffered loss and pain.

Just as our fellow believers can’t be persuaded to abandon their faith because of persecution, such violence in our own churches won’t stop us from gathering and proclaiming and celebrating the Good News of Jesus. 

Words are sadly inadequate as a response to all the recent natural disasters, and this week we had to face the added dimension of human evil in the Las Vegas murders.

I’ve written nine novels. Suppose you could interview characters from my books. If you asked them, “Would you like to suffer less?” I’m sure they’d answer, “Yes!” I empathize with my characters. But as the author, I know that in the end all their suffering will be worth it, since it’s critical to their growth, and to the redemptive story.

In times of doubt, difficulty, and trials, our fundamental beliefs about God and our faith are revealed. So how can Christians find faith in the midst of doubt? How can they trust God’s plan when their lives seem out of His control, and prayers seem to go unanswered or, sometimes it feels, even unheard?

Since God is the source of all goodness, his glory is the wellspring of all joy. What God does for his own sake benefits us. Therefore whatever glorifies him is good for us. And that includes the suffering he allows or brings (biblically, either or both terms can apply) into our lives.