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.
Articles on Trials and Suffering
289 results found
An Open Letter to the Christian Disheartened by Ongoing Temptation
D. A. Carson, John D. Woodbridge
That you are experiencing rounds of temptation is not as unusual as you might suppose. From the inception of the church believers have found this pilgrim way to be strewn with multiple temptations.
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?
An Open Letter to the Parent Who Has Lost a Child
As a parent whose child died four and a half years ago, I want to offer you two hopeful words about that wound in your heart that never will fully heal on this side of eternity.
An Open Letter to the Sexual Sufferer
If you are a victim of sexual sin, God offers you true hope and healing.
An Open Letter to the Suffering Christian
Jesus is a most sympathetic friend, fellow sufferer, and Savior. He has walked a hard road and he understands.
An Open Letter to the Weary Pastor
The gospel gives hope and encouragement to weary pastors—hope and encouragement that cannot be found anywhere else.
An Open Letter to the Woman Struggling with Aging
If you’re like most women, fear about your changing physical appearance is just the beginning of aging anxiety. Many of us struggle with aging because we know it is often a season of loss.
An Open Letter to Those Caring for a Loved One with Dementia
Taking responsibility for the care of a person suffering from any stage of dementia can be one of the greatest challenges of life. But there are not only challenges. There are also opportunities.
An Open Letter to Those Suffering from Depression
Although you feel hopeless and helpless, I want to assure you that there is hope and there is help.
An Open Letter to Those Suffering in the Hospital
Perhaps in the hospital bed, you try to pray but can’t find the words. The spiritual disciplines upon which you’ve depended seem oceans away.
An Open Letter to Those Who Feel Unqualified to Offer Counsel
The Lord specializes in using people who feel weak in themselves, and your sense of inadequacy will probably protect you.
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.
An Open Letter to Women Straining under the Burden of Expectations
Are you worn down by the weight of the countless roles and expectations in your life? Are you feeling the pressure of doing more and striving harder to please the people around you?
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.
A Sufferer’s Great Resource in Tragedy
In the early days, the pain and sorrow of losing my son were so intense that I could not focus on anything beyond daily survival. But hope prevailed.
A Surprisingly Unhelpful Promise for a Hurting Friend
For many of us, asking for help goes against every fiber of our being.
Survival mode for the weary Christian is not hibernation from Christ but perseverance in Christ.
A Word for the Discouraged Christian
The Apostle Paul remembered who he was in Christ. He remembered that beating within him is none other than Christ himself—the indwelling Christ with all his resources of power and love and joy.
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.
Blessed: Revelation’s Message to Persecuted Believers with Karen Ellis (Episode 9)
Nancy Guthrie talks with Karen Ellis about what it looks like for believers to patiently endure persecution.
Jesus knows that true power only flows through weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
Can a Christian Have Mental Illness?
Some Christians believe that Christians cannot have mental illness. If a professing Christian is depressed, anxious, or bipolar, they think it’s because they are not a real Christian, or it's because of unrepented sin.
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.
Christian Sufferer, Your Lord Is Near
I can’t think of anything that is more powerfully comforting than these words: I will never leave you or forsake you.
Counsel for Pastors Intimidated by Counseling
The call to counsel can be a bit intimidating. But having wise conversations with God’s people is something he intends for us to do.
Dave Furman's Story: Finding Help in Suffering
In this video, Dave Furman, author of Being There: How to Love Those Who Are Hurting, shares his story of debilitating need, resilient care, and finding the help that only God can supply.
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.
Did Jesus Ever Complain to God?
Many Christians don't have a category for complaint—what it means to humbly and biblically take our sorrows to the Lord.
Do Not be Paralyzed by Your Weaknesses
In honor of Reformation Day this week, here's a practical post about "gutsy guilt" in Martin Luther.