Advent Devotionals
Advent Devotionals
Pastor, Don’t Quit—Learn to Lament
In order to stem the tide of weariness and burn-out, pastors should learn how to lament.
Articles on Trials and Suffering
295 results found
The Problem of Pain Is a Problem for Everyone
There are only a few ways to handle this issue, and all of them feel incomplete. So the question is this: Which incomplete answer will you embrace to help you with the problem of evil?
Nancy Guthrie's Story of Hope in the Midst of Grief
When Nancy Guthrie's daughter, Hope, was born, she quickly learned that something was wrong. Doctors informed her and her husband, David, that all of the little things that weren't quite right with Hope were evidence …
Is Sexual Renewal a Simple or Complex Process?
The journey to sexual renewal is a complex but worthwhile battle.
What Is the Ultimate Goal of Sexual Renewal?
Depending on the particular struggle we face, the Lord knows how to renew us sexually in exactly the ways we most need.
What Should I Do When I'm Bearing Unbearable Suffering?
In the midst of pain and suffering, we must preach truth to ourselves rather than listening to the lies in our own heads.
Why We Need the Psalms of Lament
The Psalms help us express our pain to God, knowing that he hears our cries.
4 Traps to Avoid When You Suffer
How we respond to suffering shapes our experiences with suffering.
Help! It Feels Like God Is Far Away in My Suffering
Lament is the biblical language for people who feel like God is distant.
An Open Letter to Victims of Abuse
Justin S. Holcomb, Lindsey A. Holcomb
Disgrace is the opposite of grace. Grace is love that seeks you out even if you have nothing to give in return.
Your Salvation Doesn’t Depend on Your Feelings
If our salvation depended upon our feelings, we should be lost one day and saved another, for they are as fickle as the weather.
3 Doctrines That Sustain Us in Suffering
While we may not understand what God is doing, we can always trust who he is. We must never interpret God’s character by our circumstances.
How to Hope in God When Life Gets Hard
Simply knowing the end of the story gives us hope in our present circumstances.
Help! I Don’t Know If My Words Are Helping or Hurting
Cheryl Marshall, Caroline Newheiser
As you have conversations with those who are suffering, remember how the Lord’s healing words have strengthened and sustained you in your own times of trouble.
9 Notable Quotes from Coronavirus and Christ
The only firm foundation we have in an unpredictable world is the rock of Jesus Christ.
Hope in the Midst of Languishing
Spiritual growth in seasons of languishing is more about persevering through the struggle for belief than it is about arriving at a settled conclusion.
The Unresolved “Why” of Suffering
When tragedy strikes, almost everyone who believes in God, along with almost everyone who claims they don’t, asks the same question: Why does God allow suffering?
Podcast: The Day I Lost My 3-Year-Old Son (Cameron Cole)
Cameron Cole talks about losing his three-year-old son and how that tragedy and all the suffering it entailed has ultimately strengthened his hope in God.
Was Marx Right About Religion?
Is the idea of glorification an opiate for the masses? Karl Marx would have thought so. He argued that religion leads the believer to focus on the prospect of the world to come and to neglect this one.
How Suffering Can Be Our Teacher
There’s no way you’re ever going to learn endurance without having to keep on going through something hard that doesn’t go away.
The Importance of Lament in the Midst of COVID-19
The more you know about lament, the more things really come alive to you in reading Jeremiah's lament. His lament is so relevant to the suffering that we’re going through right now.
What the Church Today Needs to Hear from the Book of Revelation
This message to patiently endure persecution for Christ is a message our church needs today. And if where we are right now means we don’t need it today, maybe we will tomorrow.
No More Hiding behind the Past
The Bible has a lot to teach us when it comes to thinking about our pasts. Whatever your situation may be, it is no surprise to God. Our challenge is to not allow the past to control our walk with God in the present.
Don’t Let Go of God’s Sovereignty over Your Worst
God did and does have something to do with your tragedy. I know this sounds like a cruel statement, but stay with me. There is hope in the end.
9 Notable Quotes from ‘Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy’
Lament gives us a language to express our grief and sorrow to God, while asking him to lead us to deeper trust.
3 Important Truths Job’s Friends Neglected
In the context of the whole Bible, perhaps the deepest error and omission of Job’s friends is this: they have no place for innocent suffering.
David Powlison’s Answer to the Question “Why Me?”
David Powlison (1949–2019) reminds us that God does not offer advice and perspective from afar; he steps into our suffering.
Watch Out for Functional Atheism
In the midst of storms in your life, have you forgotten who Jesus is?
A Story of Grace in the Face of Infertility
Read the personal story of a couple who experienced infertility for a period long enough to know the pressures, anxieties, absences, and losses that so commonly define the experience.
How Suffering Crushes Our Unrealistic Expectations
Our expectation is that tomorrow will be just the same as today was, but this world is not operating the way that God intended for it to operate.