Suffering: A Case Study
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Why do we ask “Where is God in my suffering?”
if there is a God who is sovereign over all of life, over all of death, and over all pain, and over all disease, and over all illness, and over all sorrow, Then what that means is that it is flat out impossible. That any pain Could ever be. Without purpose.
Suffering has a way of blindsiding us, doesn't it? Trials come in many forms, physical, financial, relational. But even though our personal trials often differ in their form, they do seem to leave us asking similar questions, don't they? Questions like, why is this happening? Or where is God in my suffering? I'm Dave Terrio and I'm glad you're joining us for the Monday edition of Renewing Your Mind. This week we'll be hearing messages from R.C. Sproul's teaching series, Surprised by Suffering. In a fallen world, it's absolutely essential that we wrestle with the question of suffering. Not just so that we're ready to minister to others in their grief, but so that we're armed with God's truth when trials inevitably intrude into our lives.
If you'd like to explore this topic further, you can receive the downloadable version of this series in the Liginaire app today, along with the digital study guide. Just go to renewingyourmind.com. org to make a donation. Let's listen to Arce now, as he considers the topic of suffering.
Меневер анкар дискусті авсафрин. Either as a philosophical question or as a cry of pain from somebody who's in the midst of that suffering when they're asking it, the question that I hear in my profession, inevitably, is the question, where is God? In all of this. And then the next question is the question that is the one that every theologian dreads to hear. It's this question. Why? When I'm afflicted, when you're afflicted, when pain intrudes into your life and the threat of death comes, the first thing that we ask is, why? Why me? Why has this happened? How could God allow these things to take place? Now anytime we ask this simple question, why?
What does the “why?” question reveal about the purpose of pain?
We're asking a question. About purpose. The why questions are the questions about purpose. The why questions are the questions about meaning. We're not asking how, we're not asking when, we're not asking what. We're asking why. And I think there's a reason why we asked the question. It's one thing to experience pain. But it's another thing. To anticipate that my suffering and my pain is worthless. If I'm going to have to go through pain, if I'm going to have to go through suffering, I have to know inside of myself that there's some kind of reason for this. That it's not just an exercise in futility. This came home to me very vividly and very personally just a few weeks ago. My wife, Vesta, and I had returned to Orlando after being on the road and had been speaking at uh I don't even remember where we were, but any time.
that we're away from home and come back home. It's an experience of great joy. I remember as we drove into our driveway, I said to my wife, I said, We're home. It's wonderful. We pulled into the driveway, into the garage, and as I shut the engine of the car off and got out of the car, came around behind the car, the door to our kitchen opened and my daughter framed the doorway. А сунська, що берст інс. Анші блодят these words даді. I just lost my baby. And she came over to me and I just held out my arms and she grabbed me and I held her while she sobbed in my shoulder. And it took a few moments for her to get over the trauma of seeing us on our return and to explain what had happened here.
She had just begun her ninth month of her pregnancy. Pregnancy that had been very difficult, that had been one that involved a long period of morning sickness and some difficulties with hemorrhaging and so on. But she had just that day. Felt the absence of life. Within her. And she had gone to see her doctor and the doctor had gone and put her through many tests and announced to her soberly and sadly. That the baby had died. Well, of course, that's always a very difficult thing for any expectant mother to experience, but on top of that, the doctor then explained that the procedure that there was necessary for her to follow would be this, that they would bring her into the hospital the next morning.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do we ask “Where is God in my suffering?”
0:00–2:28
2
What does the “why?” question reveal about the purpose of pain?
2:28–6:47
3
How did the loss of a baby shape the speaker’s view of suffering?
6:47–11:21
4
Why do some televangelists claim God has nothing to do with suffering?
11:21–14:42
5
How does God’s sovereignty over life, death, and pain affect our understanding of suffering?
14:42–19:24
6
What can we learn from childhood hurts versus adult illnesses about God’s presence?
19:24–23:46
7
What does 1 Peter say about suffering being “not strange” for believers?
23:46–25:17
8
Can suffering itself be a calling or vocation from God?
25:17–25:54