I think it’s a question that all of us ask at some point in our lives as we endure suffering or witness the suffering of someone we love.  If God is good, if He is loving, if He is all powerful and all knowing, why do bad things happen?  It can be especially difficult for us if we have been taught that suffering is not supposed to be part of a believer’s life.  When it comes, as it inevitably will, our faith can be thrown for a loop.

Because of the nature of our church, we seem to have more than our share of it.  And as if what we have isn’t enough, more is always on tap.  We’ve been praying for our pastor’s daughter’s various ailments for some time now.  Our pastor is sick again with a recurring condition, and I have just learned that at best I have migraines and at worst something called temporal arteritis. An inflammation of artery that can cause headache and eye damage among other things.

I’m sure that over the years many have spoken to our church on this topic, but I will do it again.  I pray that the Lord will show us all something we have not seen before.  This I know.  I trust Him.  He will accomplish His purposes in us.  God is good.  I hope you will come to Bartimaeus Baptist Temple at 2:30 this Sunday and be encouraged.

⁸ Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹ But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. ¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. ¹¹ To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:8-11 NASB