Like some children, I grew up afraid of the dark. My strong, depression era dad could not justify the electricity expense for a nightlight, so I was left to sort it out on my own. My mother did help by offering these comforting words: There’s nothing there in the dark that isn’t there in the…
Category: Evil
When God Inflicts the Hurt (part 2)
“For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by his father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all…
Suffering and Hope: 1 Peter Four
“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that…
When God Doesn’t Heal our Hurts: part 3
“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer…
When God Doesn’t Heal our Hurts: part 2
“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.” – 2 Corinthians 12:8 (NLT) When suffering strikes our lives our first response is usually to try to eliminate it. It’s quite natural. After all, who among us hasn’t dropped everything when we have obtained a splinter to find the tweezers and pull it…
When God Doesn’t Heal Our Hurts: part 1
One of the clearest biblical passages that deals with the purposes that suffering works out in our lives is Paul’s autobiographical discussion of his “thorn in the flesh.” 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 states, “This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I…
When Innocent People Suffer: Part 3
In this final post, I’d like to offer four thoughts on applying the story of Job to our lives. First, focus on what you affirm to be true about God. Those who know me are aware that I have a deep distaste for cliché Christianity and “pat answers.” I think those things should be categorically…
When Innocent People Suffer: Part 2
I suppose volumes could be written on Job and his suffering. I think that the 30,000 foot view of the book as a whole provides some helpful insights regarding the broken places in our lives. Observation One: Job insisted that his suffering was within the framework of the sovereignty of God. In chapter 2:10 he…
When Innocent People Suffer: Part 1
“He (Job) was blameless — a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.” (Job 1:2; 1:8; 2:3, NLT) Any time we discuss the problem of evil and suffering, we are going to face challenges. Those challenges are never more poignant than those times in which the particular suffering strikes us…
What Happened? (part 2)
The world has not always been this way. The good news is that it will not always be this way. Even in the midst of chaos in the garden, we find Genesis 3:15, which reads, “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike…
