Tag: suffering

August 9, 2026

August 9th, 2026

Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Job 1-2

Highlight Verse:

“Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!””
‭‭Job‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Yesterday I mentioned the question, “Why doesn’t God intervene when bad things happen?”

Clearly, Job is an example of a good person to whom bad things happened.

Really bad things.

And God gave Satan the go ahead to do those things.

Why?

As it is likely that Job was just a literary character, like someone in one of Jesus’s parables, I will look at that question in more general terms.

First, if we were all forced to love and obey God and did not have the ability to rebel, we would be like robots.

Robots cannot love; they can only follow their programming.

That programming might mimic love, but if we do not have the option to disobey, we cannot choose to love.

That means that disobedience (sin) must be an option for love to exist.

And if disobedience exists, so does pain, and loss, and crime, and war.

At the first sin in the Garden of Eden, corruption and mortality entered the world.

Mankind had been protected from death but now the effects of our imperfect world can affect us.

Crime, earthquakes, fires, famine, and storms can harm anyone.

That said, there have been instances where some have been miraculously spared.

I cannot say why since I do not have God’s omniscient perspective.

I will always pray in faith for the miraculous.

When the answer is “no,” I will try to accept it and remember that this life is but a tiny fraction of the eternity that awaits us.

That is a perspective that is difficult to keep when the pain of loss is overwhelming.

When our loved ones go through those times, we do well to just be present to comfort.

When we go through those times, we can only cling to faith and cry out for God to send His comfort.

As I mentioned yesterday, He will.

Do you have a perspective to share on this topic? Please do.
Do you have any other difficult questions that you would like to explore here? Let me know.
August 1, 2026

August 1st, 2026

Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Ephesians 3

Highlight Verse:

“So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I wanted to highlight Paul’s suffering, reminding us of those who suffer for the Gospel even today. That’s important to remember but that’s not what stood out to me.

Then I thought I might write about the newfound equality between Jews and Gentiles. But something else stood out beyond that as well.

It was Paul’s attitude.

Here in America, we tend to whine and complain when things don’t go our way.

I’m not accusing anyone since I’m the same way.

I’m just aspiring to be like Paul.

He’s sitting in jail.

His freedom is restricted and the conditions are horrible.

So how does he react?

He considers it a privilege to suffer for Christ and a reason to rejoice.

And then he goes about writing letters that will impact the world for many generations.

Think about that.

What most people would think of as a hardship, Paul turns into an opportunity.

If not for his imprisonment, many of his letters would not have been written.

So, the next time you or I experience some hardship or pain, perhaps

we need to be looking for the opportunity that hardship affords us.

Have you ever been able to turn a hardship into an opportunity?
Do you have suggestions for how we can turn tough times into something God can use?
April 9, 2026

April 9th, 2026

Thursday – Letters

Reading – James 1

Highlight Verse:

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Just ask.

Why didn’t I think about that?

But then, read it in context.

That wisdom may come with the price of suffering.

None of us really wants to pay that price.

But we can’t argue with the results.

I wish I could have perfect wisdom without pain, but that’s not the way it works.

Knowledge helps, especially when it’s from the Bible.

But nothing gets a lesson through our thick skulls as effectively as suffering.

I’m not saying you should run toward suffering, but if you are in the midst of it, stop and look at what lesson God is allowing you to learn from it.

Then reach beyond that suffering and thank God for that lesson.

What lessons have you learned through suffering?
What advice can you give those who are in the midst of suffering?
February 5, 2026

February 5th, 2026

Highlight Verse:

“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I was a senior in high school, I was the yearbook photographer. I’ve always enjoyed photography and already had a portfolio of landscape photos .

I lost my afterschool job because I spent the summer with my dad out of state.

My parents always provided food, but I wanted to be able to buy hot school lunches. I could no longer afford them, so I started printing and selling landscape photos to teachers and others for lunch money.

The principal got wind of my entrepreneurial enterprise and took it upon himself to sign me up for free lunches.

I appreciated his compassion for me, but I felt cheated out an experience.

Obviously, I cannot compare my hunger for school lunches to the suffering Jesus went through, but I think we miss out on something if we manage to avoid all suffering.

There have been plenty of other moments of suffering in my life that were far more significant than missing hot lunches.

Though none were as serious as what Jesus suffered, each brought a little more strength and wisdom to my life.

Suffering is never fun, but sometimes it can be good.

What lessons have you learned from suffering?
Where do you draw the line when deciding to protect your loved ones from suffering?

Tag: suffering

August 9, 2026

Yesterday I mentioned the question, “Why doesn’t God intervene when bad things happen?”

When the answer is “no,” I will try to accept it and remember that this life is but a tiny fraction of the eternity that awaits us.

August 1, 2026

It was Paul’s attitude.

I’m just aspiring to be like Paul.

we need to be looking for the opportunity that hardship affords us.

April 9, 2026

Why didn’t I think about that?

But nothing gets a lesson through our thick skulls as effectively as suffering.

Then reach beyond that suffering and thank God for that lesson.

February 5, 2026

I appreciated his compassion for me, but I felt cheated out an experience.

Though none were as serious as what Jesus suffered, each brought a little more strength and wisdom to my life.

Suffering is never fun, but sometimes it can be good.