Birthed in deep grief and written through God’s great comfort, this little book has finally been published. May the Lord bless and encourage you in your present pain.
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Excerpt from Introduction:
No one really sets out to write a book on suffering—no one hopes to live a life marked by suffering either. That’s for a lot of reasons, I suppose. Life often takes us places we don’t want to go. We don’t always get to choose the type of book we will write.
Just because you love Jesus and serve Him, doesn’t mean you won’t experience pain, trials, or tragedy. The Christian doesn’t get a pass on the difficulties of life. They come to us all—to those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t. The only difference between us is faith. Faith in Jesus adds hope: Hope during the trial, and hope for the future.
As I write this, it’s been just over five years since my wife and I experienced the deepest wound a parent can receive. Our twenty- six-year-old son Eddie, born to us as teenage parents, went home to His Savior after a valiant battle for life. His life ended much too early. My wife Marie and I joined the club no parent wants to be in. His brother and sister lost their friend. His son lost more than he could ever imagine. Loss. So much pain and loss surrounded Eddie’s fight for life and the end-of-life decisions made for him.
W. Clement Stone said, “Big doors swing on little hinges.” But on the fateful day of Eddie’s death, our lives turned on a large hinge. Life would never be the same. Added to our family in large measure was a deep grief, debilitating depression, betrayal, tears, regret and a whole host of horrific events that were uninvited and unexpected— especially on the heels of our son’s death.
We started asking questions we had really never asked before. The biggest question of course was, “Why?” God graciously never answered that question. There were other questions too: Are all the things I’ve taught about being a Christian still true? Do I still believe them?
Of course, time and time again, we found ourselves answering with a resounding yes. Yes, I believe, but Lord help my unbelief!
God really does work all things together for the good, even when— no, especially when—we can’t see it yet.
What emerged over the past few years in our tightly-knit family has been a resilient faith in a faithful God. At each stage, in each season, God has revealed Himself in strength and majesty. John reminds us, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). It’s true. Unfortunately, one of the only ways to know this with great certainty is to experience God’s Faithfulness for yourself. Grief will surely undermine your faith, or at least attempt to, almost daily.
In your hands is a series of truthful reminders of God’s help for your troubled heart. He loves you. He wants to restore to you the hope you’ve lost though deep pain and tragedy. Listen, each of us have our stories of pain to share. But if we’re not careful, we will refuse to accept and receive the healing Jesus so readily gives. Instead of living out stories of pain, God invites us to live in His redemptive story, full of faith and His faithfulness.
I didn’t set out to write a book on suffering. It snuck up on me not too many years ago. I invite you to join me on a journey to healing through the Word of God, a journey I’m still on.
we have thought about adding an audio component but time has been challenging. The book is developed from a series of Bible studies I taught and those audio and video recordings are available for free on our church’s app or web site calvaryco.church