No One Is Exempt
Every Christian belongs to one of three groups today: those going through a trial, those coming out of a trial, and those who will soon find themselves in one. No one is exempt. If we do not have a biblical view of suffering, we will be greatly discouraged when it comes.
Some new believers are told that following Jesus will fix their problems. Jesus never said so. He told His disciples, In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Peter told suffering believers not to be caught off guard.
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”1 PETER 4:12–13 · KJV
An oppressive state of physical, mental, social, or economic adversity. The Greek word thlipsis carries the idea of pressure, of being pressed down under a weight.
God wants to prepare you to suffer with faith, hope, and joy. This study will not answer every “why.” It will show you what God has said, so that you can stand on it when the day comes.
If you are reading this in the middle of a trial, we are sorry for your pain. God has not forgotten you. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart (Psalm 34:18).
When the trial comes, where will you look for help and hope? If we believe God is good and knows best, we will look to Him. If we do not, we will look somewhere else.
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For Deeper Study
- Trusting God: Even When Life HurtsAmazon Jerry BridgesA warm study of God's sovereignty, wisdom, and love in suffering. Bridges was Reformed and held a meticulous view of providence, where we differ.
- Why, O God? Suffering and Disability in the Bible and the ChurchAmazon Larry J. Waters and Roy B. Zuck, eds.Essays on what Scripture teaches about suffering and how churches can care for those who suffer, edited by two Dallas Theological Seminary teachers.
- A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's SovereigntyAmazon Joni Eareckson TadaA quadriplegic since her teens writes honestly about prayer, pain, and why God heals some and not others. Her view of God's sovereignty is more Reformed than ours.
- Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn DarknessAmazon Edward T. WelchA biblical counselor applies Scripture's hope to depression while recognizing the body's part. Reformed.
- Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of LamentAmazon Mark VroegopA pastor who lost a child shows how the psalms of lament teach us to bring our pain to God. Reformed in outlook.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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The Sovereignty of God
God rules over all things. Scripture presents His sovereignty as the reign of a personal King, not the mechanism of a fixed determinism.
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