Category: Suffering
If Many Die at Once
A Brockton Dialogue The older, wiser Mr. Brockton: When scores of people lose their lives at one time, it isn’t alarming, but it is tragic. The younger disciple, James: How is it possible not to be alarmed if 5000 die in an earthquake or 10,000 in...
Shine as Lights in the World
At one point in Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi, he reminds them that they are to show themselves to be “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in...
Our Blessed Hope
I was visiting a wonderful, godly lady yesterday who has faced tremendous, continual suffering in this life. She nearly died recently, unconscious and failing for many days, and then she woke up, right on the brink of death. She told me that when she awakened, she...
Four Truths for Stressful Days
After more than a year of wrongful imprisonment, Adoniram Judson, 19th Century missionary to Burma, was unexpectedly released. But the damage was irreversible. His wife Nancy had nearly killed herself trying to provide him food and care while he was being mistreated. This led to rapid...
When It Seems Like God Doesn’t Love Me
Certain sufferings can make us ask hard questions about God. “Is it really true that there is a God who loves me? I have thrown myself on the Lord, I have prayed with real trust in him. But nothing, no response. Why am I still suffering?”...
In Hope You Have Been Saved: Suffering and Realistic Eschatology
I spoke with a friend last week, a man who has shown godly perseverance through a lot of health problems. But now he’s facing a new problem: his kids are suffering chronic pain. This has been tough on his family, he admitted to me, and tough...
The Hard Road is Where You’ll Find the Lord
Recently, there has been a lot of construction downtown where I live. Cones, dusty white rock, makeshift fences and lots of expensive equipment have lined the streets for months. This makes it difficult to drive near the downtown square, very difficult actually, because most of the...
Reflections from a Week of Sickness
It was 3 a.m. and I was shivering. The problem? It was hot outside, and I was in a home without air conditioning. I was also far from my home because I was teaching at a church in another state for the weekend. As quietly as...
Encouragement from Job the Sufferer
Like twin tsunamis, affliction overtook Job in two crushing waves. First his immense wealth and his ten children were swept away. Then his body was tormented by “loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (2:7).Job’s story spans forty-two chapters...
An Empty Chair at Christmas
Sometimes the hope of Christmas is, “Next year all our troubles will be miles away.” That’s what the song says anyway, but many will not have a merry Christmas just because of that. They know it is not true. Many start with and cannot get past...
