We May Be Confused, but God Isn’t
As much as we try to make sense of our lives, there are things that we simply aren’t able to understand.
Articles on Trials and Suffering
289 results found
We Need Another Storyline to Put Ours in Perspective
Orienting ourselves by stories involves using their storylines to put our lives in proper perspective.
Sometimes we end up disappointed with Jesus because we want the miracle, the answer, the reconciliation, the restoration, the healing right now.
What Can I Give to a Grieving Person?
What can we give as a gift to someone who is going through grief—something that we can do for them that would be really helpful?
What Does God Think of My Pain?
While Christians are never promised immunity from suffering, they are promised a purpose in the midst of it.
Even those in their prime with perfect health have limits. We need a stronger strength to match our deep discouragements.
James calls on Christians to reckon any situation, however difficult, as an occasion of intense joy. Not every element of suffering is joy. But, however severe one’s suffering, every trial is a time for intense joy.
What Grieving People Wish You Knew
Four things grieving people wish we knew about grief to help us confidently interact and helpfully take action.
What I Learned in My Season of Depression
God, in his love and wisdom, chose this very specific trial for me.
What Is Hurtful about Playing the Comparison Game?
Unless you are Jesus, it almost never helps to tell someone that you know exactly what they’re going through.
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?"
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 Not to Say to a Grieving Person
Here are three things that grieving people wish no one would ever say to them again.
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.
What the Apostle Paul Teaches Us about Suffering
When God called Paul from being the church’s persecutor to be a gospel preacher, the Lord showed him how much he would suffer for the sake of his name.
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.
What Those Who Care for the Hurting Need Most
This book is not for one who is necessarily suffering physical trauma or depression. Instead, it is a book for everyone.
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.
What to Do When It Feels Like God Is against You
When you’re facing times of trouble and it feels like God is against you, there are two important things to do.
What to Do When People Don't Sympathize with Your Suffering
In the midst of your heaviest grief, those around you will likely return to life as normal long before you can. Be realistic about people and their ability to enter into your suffering, to stay, and to remember.
What to Say to a Grieving Person
Sometimes it can be hard to know what to say to someone who is grieving. Yet there are helpful words we can give to people who are suffering—words that will actually help and encourage in the midst of grief.
What to Say to Someone Suffering like Job
The book of Job does not directly tell us how to address Job-like suffering. But I think we can sketch what a helpful answer would be, if we take an approach exactly opposite from the friends.
What We Think We're Entitled to in the 21st Century
We realized just how much we had assumed we would have, how many things we believed were almost rights of ours.
When Christ Turns Persecutors into Persecuted (for His Glory)
Jesus is alive, is at work, and he’s bringing men and women to himself.
What someone shouldn’t immediately offer to the couple struggling with infertility is a set of solutions to the problem.
When Trouble Comes: Phil Ryken’s Personal Testimony
A year or two ago, Phil Ryken went through a season of deep spiritual discouragement; some would probably call it depression.
When You Don't Even Realize How Discouraged You Are
The truth is, most of us don’t like the look of discouragement. It feels embarrassing. But when we avoid areas of our own insufficiency, we also avoid finding the help we so desperately need.
Why All Christians Should Expect Trouble
The longer you live in this fallen world, the more kinds of trouble you face.
Why Do We Sometimes Feel Empty?
Perhaps you have come to see your emptiness as your biggest problem. That’s not how God sees it.
God saves people for a purpose. Salvation in Christ begins a life spent growing into being like him and serving him faithfully.