Why Do We Suffer?
Theme of the week: Answering the Toughest Questions
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. (Romans 8:18) Dig Deeper: Romans 8:18-25
Points to consider:
- It is important to help our friends see that Jesus himself warned us that we would all face trials and suffering. This illustrates that Christianity is a real-world faith that tells the truth about the world we live in.
- Evil was not created by God; instead, he gives us a choice. We can choose him, or we can choose sin and evil. Much of the suffering people face has been caused by humans hurting fellow humans. Sin also affects nature. "Natural" catastrophes occur because we live in a fallen world that is not the way God intended it to be.
- People desire a place without suffering—and God has promised that! One day he will judge all evil and create a new world. In the meantime, he is patient so that many who do not yet know him can come to know and follow him.
- God knows all about suffering: Jesus suffered in unimaginable ways. He therefore understands what we feel. He desires that we come to him to find grace and mercy to help us in our time of need.
- God can bring good out of all kinds of evil and suffering.
—Mark Mittelberg in The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask
My Response: Which points above best address difficult questions about human suffering? How might I expand on those points?
Thought to Apply: God would never permit evil if he could not bring good out of evil.—St. Augustine (church leader, theologian)
Adapted from The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask (Tyndale, 2010) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.
Copyright © 2012 by Christianity Today/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Author of truth, help me when people come seeking answers to their deepest questions; make me bold; let me trust your Spirit to give me the words to say.
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