Why You'll Never Grieve Well without Hope
To grieve well is to have a growing sense of confidence and rest that God's promises of resurrection, centered in the resurrected Jesus, are really true.
Articles on Trials and Suffering
291 results found
Suffering: A 7-Day Reading Plan
This 7-day Bible reading plan was created to help you draw encouragement from God's Word in the midst of suffering—leading to hope in the gospel through the power of the Spirit.
A Momentary Affliction in Light of Eternity
All Christians, especially those who are suffering, should be daydreaming about eternity on a regular basis.
No One in Our Lives “Always” Acts a Certain Way—Except God
Every. Single. Day. Always. The Lord has no off days and no half-hearted days. No days where instead of pursuit he dawdles in his goodness or forgets to follow in his mercy.
How to Turn Weeping into Witnessing
We can’t jump straight to It’s alright. God will be good. We can be sure he will, but that’s probably not where we should start.
My Suffering Savior Taught Me to Sing
My suffering Savior has taught me to always choose a song—a song that fortifies my faith against discouragement and breathes hope into my heart.
Passionate about the Trivial and Apathetic about the Vital
The paradox of apathy is that, for the spiritually apathetic, there is an inverse relationship between the greatness of a truth and our emotional and practical response to it.
How to Find Yourself in the Psalms
I love the psalms because we find ourselves, but even more significantly, we find our Lord in the psalms.
How to Pray in the Wake of Hurricane Dorian
Natural disasters can be a doorway for spiritual questions and eternal decisions. We can do more than just watch and marvel.
Spiritual warfare made the Puritans what they were. They accepted conflict as their calling, seeing themselves as their Lord’s soldier-pilgrims.
Podcast: Where Is God in Suffering? (Ligon Duncan)
How can Christians can face profound life-changing suffering with their faith intact and find encouragement from God's word in the midst of a season of intense pain?
The Promises of God: A 7-Day Devotional
We are to treat a promise of God as reality, as someone treats a check. We are to take the promise and endorse it with our own name by personally receiving it as true.
What Is the Best Question to Ask a Hurting Friend?
There are lots of good questions to ask someone who is hurting, but I think one of the best questions is this: "How are you doing today?"
This gospel meditation by Paul David Tripp encourages us to turn to Christ in our hardships, taking even our most difficult moments to him.
3 Pieces of Advice for Responding to Miscarriage
Miscarriage can be an acutely painful experience. Yet it teaches those who experience it—and the church as a whole—to lean into the Lord's care.
All the Very Best Stories Lead Us to Hope in the Darkness
Stories, it seems, can remind our kids that in Christ, morning will always come, no matter how deep the darkness.
Is Doubt the Backstory Behind Your Apathy?
While I am consoled somewhat by the fact that doubts are normal and potentially formative, they still feel like what Lewis calls an emotional “blitz” on my belief.
Podcast: Trauma, Pain, and Loss: A Doctor’s Story of Faith and Healing (Katie Butler)
Kathryn Butler discusses her work as a trauma surgeon working in the ICU, sharing what it was like to be inundated with life and death situations day in and day out.
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: Asking God "Why" in the Midst of Suffering (Mark Talbot)
Is it okay to ask God why when suffering? What do you do when you go through profound suffering?
No one sets out to learn lament. But once you find it, you're so thankful because there's grace that God can give you when the dark clouds of hardship and pain roll into your life.
How the Bible Is One Big, Divine, Holy Story of Marriage
One of the amazing things about the Bible is the grand scope of its vision.
When Christ Turns Persecutors into Persecuted (for His Glory)
Jesus is alive, is at work, and he’s bringing men and women to himself.
3 Words of Counsel to Sufferers
Be aware that you're always preaching to yourself some kind of gospel.
Three Purposes of God in Your Suffering
We know that suffering is a result of sin and a fallen world, but that usually feels inadequate when we're in anguish.
Talking about Heaven with a Grieving Person
What do you do when that’s the way everyone is talking about someone who has died, but you’re not sure that you ever saw any genuine relationship with Christ?
How Lament Can Help with Racial Reconciliation
When we don't know what to say, lament can become a really helpful language to use.
Why We Can’t Lament without Listening
When it comes to loaded subjects like racism or ethnic tension, too often believers fall into the familiar ditches of denial or despair.
Sometimes we end up disappointed with Jesus because we want the miracle, the answer, the reconciliation, the restoration, the healing right now.
The Paradoxical Pattern of Jesus’s Life
God is unswervingly active in bringing about good from troublesome circumstances in the Christian’s life.