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Up to 50% Off Select Commentarie
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.
Articles on Trials and Suffering
310 results found
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.
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.
Watch Out for Functional Atheism
In the midst of storms in your life, have you forgotten who Jesus is?
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.
A Word to Parents at Their Breaking Point
It can be helpful to manage your expectations of what normal life can and should be, and recognize that the season you’re in is intensely difficult in a particular way and that it won’t always be that way.
Podcast: Why Did God Let Job Suffer? (Christopher Ash)
Christopher Ash discusses the story of Job and how God's goodness shines through suffering. He also explores the roles of Satan, the fall, and the cross of Jesus Christ in human suffering.
An Open Letter to the Christian Frontline Medical Worker
The work to which you’ve devoted your life can plunge you into your darkest hours, luring you into doubts about God’s love, perhaps even about his existence. Where is God in all this?
What Not to Say to a Grieving Person
Here are three things that grieving people wish no one would ever say to them again.
How to Die for the Glory of God
Coming to the end of life can be very self-centered and that’s antithetical to the gospel. When I die, I want my life to reflect the gospel.
Why Study the Books of 1–2 Peter?
Into a historical moment when many Christians feel disoriented, 1–2 Peter helps us recenter our hope on Christ.
Don't Miss What God Is Teaching You in Your Pain
God works through our weakness to bring glory to his name and make it absolutely clear that it's him who's at work.
A Narrative of Hope in the Darkness of Tragedy
The sovereignty of God is not some debatable proposition; it is the assurance that your child’s death is not a meaningless accident.
How to Pray in Times of Trouble
When we cannot articulate our prayer requests to God, the Holy Spirit understands our groanings and translates them into intelligible prayers that God the Father can understand and will answer.
Podcast: A Christian Perspective on Depression (Kathryn Butler, MD)
Kathryn Butler shares encouraging insights that offer hope for those who struggle with depression and help for those seeking to care for someone who does.
Podcast: How to Endure Inexplicable Suffering (Eric Ortlund)
Eric Ortlund looks at the example of Job and how, as Christians, we should respond when we face the kind of suffering that Job did.
The Mission Field I Never Expected
For those of us who are parents, God wants us to esteem the field he’s given us. It’s not a tiring distraction from the true mission field we should be tilling.
The church must be dedicated to hearing and attending to the cry of the afflicted. May all Christians resist the temptation to burrow our heads in the sand because we dread emotional upheaval.
Temptations require the Christian to resist wicked desires, not shift blame to others, and be aware of the disastrous path to which giving in to temptation leads.
What to Do When God Doesn’t Answer
We are called, as was Job, to begin our lives of discipleship with the fear of God and repentance from evil.
How to Resist the Vortex of the Course of This World
By definition, a Christian is one who has been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13).
There’s no guarantee that because we’re in a saving relationship with God through Christ that we’re going to be exempt from darkness.
2 Reasons We Don’t Know How to Lament
The notion that lament isn't familiar is actually an indictment of the state of the American church.
The Beauty of Shared Suffering
God delights in identifying with us in our suffering. He feels the sting in his chest when you hurt. He takes
it personally.
Entering into the Loneliness of Job
There is a deep sense in which the lonely sufferings of Jesus Christ mean that no believer today is called to enter Job’s loneliness in its full depth.
John Piper’s Prayer for the COVID-19 Pandemic
Grant recovery. Grant a cure. Deliver us—your poor, helpless creatures—from these sorrows, we pray.
How to Pray When You’re Feeling Anxious or Depressed
During seasons of depression or anxiety, most of us find it hard to concentrate, we feel God is far away, and we despair of God hearing us or helping us.
Caregiving Is a Stewardship of Grace
It is easy to focus on physical needs in desperate times, but by God’s grace, remember there are spiritual issues, too.
An Open Letter to the Child Facing End-of-Life Decisions for a Parent
How can you make rational medical decisions while flailing in grief? Even if you know your parent’s wishes, the burdens can feel too heavy.
Why We Don't Have to Hide Our Pain from God
Like a child going to a parent, we don't have to clean up our spiritual act to pour out our hearts to God.