Category Archives: Suffering

What was God doing when John was beheaded (Mk 6)?

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Ian Paul remarks that, in preaching from the account of John the Baptist’s beheading, it is tempting to take an anthropocentric approach, in which:

‘It is…a game of consequences, [with] each stage of the drama unfolding tragically but with some inevitability into the next. What happens if you are born into a family whose patriarch is a ruthless but insecure tyrant (Herod the Great) who forged a regime from nothing and was a monumental builder, but achieved this by having his own wife and two sons executed?

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1 Sam 15 – Saul and the Amalekites

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1 Samuel 15 tells of the command of God to Saul that he should completely destroy a people called the Amalekites.

What are we to make of this?

Steve McAlpine tackles it as follows (this is a precis):

(a) From a philosophical perspective, the Christian apologist should refuse to allow the discussion to be framed by secular thinking.  Such thinking demands that we not only prove that God exists, but that he/she/it is that kind of god we find believable. …

Towards understanding suffering

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Many years ago, I read and summarised John Wenham’s thoughts on this subject.  I reproduce my notes here.

1. It is good that we are free agents, not machines.  This freedom to accept or reject seems essential to a living, loving relationship with God, but comes with it the possibility of sin in all its horror.

2. It is good that sn is linked with suffering as a deterrant.  It may well be true that all suffering is a result of sin (Gen 3:14-19). …

Romans 8:28 – ‘All things work together for good’

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8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

Baghdad, July 30th 1919.…

Carson: reflecting on evil and suffering

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You don’t need me to remind you that our world, wonderful and beautiful as it is, is shot through with suffering and evil.

In a recent lecture, Don Carson spoke of six ‘pillars’ of the Christian worldview that will provide bulwarks as we seek to face up to this reality.

1. Insights from the beginning of the Bible’s storyline

God created a world of ‘breathtaking beauty and unfathomable goodness’.  But the perfection was short-lived.  We now find ourselves, from Genesis 3 onwards, in a world marked by ‘sin, suffering, death and decay’.…

James 1:2f ‘Consider it pure joy’ – really?

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[Notes of a talk given at the Service of Thanksgiving for God’s goodness during the recent illness and ongoing recovery of Sarah Mason.  Holy Trinity Norwich, at 2pm on Saturday 8th July 2023]

‘Consider it pure joy’ – Really?

James 1:2f – ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.’

Or as a well-known saying puts it:

‘God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good.’…

Romans 8:28 – Hope in times of suffering

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Christians take much comfort from Paul’s words in Romans 8:28 – ‘We know that all things work together for good.’

But, equally, they are frequently puzzled and perplexed by these same words.  So often, they do not seem to match our experience.  Thus, they become, not the application of a soothing balm, but a rubbing in of salt in the wounds.

As is so often the case, context is king.  J.D. Greear helps us to place this gem of truth in its proper setting, so that it can shine more truly and more brightly.…

Can we say, ‘Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away’?

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Job 1:21 – “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Not everyone thinks this famous confession, uttered by Job after all his sons and daughters had perished, is good theology.

Ben Witherington, whose daughter tragically died in 2012, wrote this:-

‘According to Job 1, it was not God but the Devil who took away Job’s children, health, and wealth. God allowed it to happen, but when Job said these words, as the rest of the story shows, he was not yet enlightened about the true nature of the source of his calamity and God’s actual will for his life.

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How the cross speaks to suffering

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Tim Chester summarises the teaching of John Stott in The Cross of Christ:

1. The cross of Christ is a stimulus to patient endurance. There are times when we must endure suffering as Jesus did at the cross (Heb. 12:1–3; 1 Pet. 2:18–23).

2. The cross of Christ is the path to mature holiness. Suffering can be formative (James 1:2–4), as it was for Jesus (Heb. 2:10; 5:8–9).

3. The cross of Christ is the symbol of suffering service.…

How God works suffering for our good

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Most Christians know Paul’s reassuring words from Romans 8:28 – ‘We know that all things work together for good for those who love God.’

But how does this actually work?

Based on the writing of Thomas Watson (The Divine Cordial) Tim Challies outlines 10 ways in which God works suffering for the good of his people.

Here is my own precis.

1. Suffering is our teacher.  It reminds us of our sin, immaturity and dependence.  It is in the crucible of suffering that many parts of God’s written word – especially the Psalms, come alive and apply themselves to our souls.…