Some crises turn out well. The loved one recovers from the accident, the son comes to Christ, the daughter comes home. We may clearly see God’s hand in allowing the whole ordeal to happen. Other times the crisis ends in apparent tragedy.

Sunday morning, March 7, I was with Greg Laurie and Harvest Fellowship in Riverside, California. Greg interviewed me about Heaven, and evil and suffering, and we opened the Word together. We did something similar last Thursday night in Orange County.

To ignore someone’s pain is to add to that pain. Instead of fearing we’ll say the wrong thing, we should reach out to hurting people. Many times it’s better just to put our arms around someone and cry with them; people almost always appreciate it when you acknowledge their loss. 

This world is the closest thing to heaven unbelievers will ever experience, and the closest thing to hell believers will ever know. 

During the last month of Annette Teeter’s lengthy battle with cancer, the small glass “Precious Moments” bell became her constant companion.

When we lock our eyes on our cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, diabetes, or disability, self-pity and bitterness can creep in. When we spend our days rehearsing the tragic death of a loved one, we will interpret all life through the darkness of our suffering. How much better when we focus upon Jesus!

Daniel Traugott was a 13-year-old boy who died in a car accident, leaving behind his mother, father and four siblings. His mother, Sandy, sent us the following poems she wrote that reflect two different perspectives on his death. (Reprinted with permission.)

What, after all, is more universal to human experience than suffering? And what is more important than the perspective we bring to it?

In this video clip, Ann Stump shares her story of losing her young son. Randy Alcorn writes about this story in his book If God Is Good.