Date:
October 10, 2024Suffering
We shouldn’t be surprised at suffering—we should expect it. Suffering shapes us and matures our character.
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Suffering
In the process of living and dying in a sin-cursed world we experience distress, agony, and misery due to pain, disease, loss, and damage. We call it suffering. Everyone experiences it sooner or later. It is part of the human condition. Some of it we bring on ourselves. Some of us suffer through no fault of our own.
Besides being difficult physically, emotionally, and spiritually, the fact that suffering often appears to have no rhyme or reason, and appears meaningless adds a measure of psychological suffering. Suffering is easier to endure if we can attach some meaning or purpose to it.
While we can't often control the sources of our suffering, we can control our response to it. God gives us direction as to how to respond so as to make it meaningful. We hope these resources help you turn suffering into a situation to praise God for His strength amid your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9b).
It's Not Fair!
Few things in life are more irritating, aggravating, and resented than having to endure what’s unfair, especially when our suffering is not our fault.
God's Hand is in Our Pain
Rest assured in the midst of your trouble, no matter what it is, God’s sovereign hand is at work. It will literally revolutionize your whole mental attitude toward life.
It's Not a Perfect World
No one lives happily ever after on this earth, but if we cling to our faith we can be sure there will be a happy ending. Our sorrow may last for a night, but joy will come in the morning.
Life Isn't Fair
Suffering has a way of simplifying life. It stretches our faith and pulls us back to the basics of prayer and dependence on God.
Tragedy and Calamity
If you allow it, tragedy can pull you closer to the Lord than you’ve ever been. God doesn’t leave you in hard times, He comes closer and He stays nearer.
Finding Balance between Abundant Life and Challenges
If Jesus promised an abundant, rich and satisfying life, how could He also promise many trials and sorrows? Aren’t those opposites? Why is the Christian life abundantly difficult at times?
The Injustice of Roman Justice
It’s easy for us, living in the “civilized” 21st-century, to think that the persecution of Christians was merely a reality in ancient times. It was—but it’s as much a reality today as it was yesterday.
Beyond the Broadcast: When Calamity Crashes In
No matter how hard we work to attain a life of ease an avalanche of losses may wipe us out at any moment. How do we spiritually prepare for disasters that we don’t see coming? To what hope do we cling to when calamity crashes in?
When Calamity Crashes In
Study Job 1 and 2 with Pastor Chuck Swindoll, and grasp how the assaults on Job’s family, health, and belongings threatened to pull him away from God.
