Suffering

GOSPEL HOPE WHEN DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

By: Paul Tibb

When was the last time you were in pain? Last week when you burned your mouth eating pizza? No, that was me. What about after the loss of a loved one? Ever had a broken bone? Bad break-up? Been lied to? Gotten a papercut? Experienced migraines? Been in a car accident? Felt cheated? Physically, mentally, spiritually, and/or emotionally
struggled through a global pandemic? Suffering goes far beyond just physical pain and can leave us devastated, paralyzed, and downright hopeless. It might start when we’re kids with a scraped knee, but sooner or later, deeper
suffering comes along and we’re left tempted to question whether God is with us at all in this messed-up world.

In his book Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense, Paul David Tripp, American pastor, author and speaker, shares his personal journey with kidney failure. Through the lens of his own suffering, Tripp suggests there are
six traps that we are tempted to fall into as we face life’s hardships, such as envy, doubt, and denial. The author in no way undermines the physical or emotional pain we feel in suffering, admitting that he knows firsthand how unbearable it can seem. He believes that honesty with God throughout our suffering is the first step toward lasting peace, and he pleads with the reader to look to the Bible for a right perspective: “Not only does Scripture record the history of sufferers, but a large portion of Scripture is dedicated to giving voice to their cries…there are about sixty-seven lament psalms. That means roughly 44 percent of the content of the psalms are given over to psalms of suffering and sorrow.”

Tripp points the reader to God, who promises help, comfort, and hope to His people. Tripp’s personal experience trusting the Lord through incredibly painful circumstances is a testimony of the hope we can have when we keep an
eternal perspective. He ends with six comforts God offers to those who have put their trust in Jesus, including the
comfort of God’s purpose in our suffering: “Suffering has the power to destroy our self-reliance…expose our self
-righteousness…to lay waste to our idols. Suffering exposes the inadequacy of hooking our hope to the temporary
treasures of the created world and positions our heart to hook our hope to the Creator in ways we’ve never done before.”

If you’re struggling to see how God relates to your suffering, or the unavoidable pain we all see in the world
around us, this book is sure to give you a new perspective.