{"id":3089,"date":"2024-05-07T16:38:43","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T20:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging7.biblegateway.com\/learn\/?p=3089"},"modified":"2025-07-30T10:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:53:36","slug":"live-courageously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/voices\/live-courageously\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Can Live Courageously in a World Full of Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you and I are going to be Overcomers and live courageously in this mess, it\u2019d be helpful to understand some of it. After we see ultimate reality in Revelation 4\u20135<\/a>, in Revelation 6<\/a> we get more help seeing behind all the mess. We get some good news about how we can endure and stand with confidence in light of all this pain\u2014the pain of others and our pain as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to suffering, we see several things in the Scriptures that form a paradox we should hold in tension as finite, created beings seeking to understand an infinite and eternal God. The first is that God is good (Mark 10:18<\/a>), all the works of His hands are faithful and just (Psalm 111:7<\/a>), and there is no darkness in Him at all (1 John 1:5<\/a>). God is <\/em>love. It\u2019s not something He has or does; it\u2019s who He is. God doesn\u2019t do <\/em>evil; He does love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Limits of Evil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Excluding Satan and demons who were made in the beginning good, it might be helpful for you to think of evil not as an action or a substance that flows from a source but rather the result of fractured relationships. It\u2019s first and foremost a broken relationship with our Creator, then with ourselves, with others, and ultimately with the world itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God isn\u2019t the creator of evil; he\u2019s the creator of beauty, goodness, and truth. Evil, suffering, and death are the result of sin and humankind\u2019s rebellion against their Creator, which fractured the cosmos. That isn\u2019t to say that every specific thing we endure is our fault. The cosmos is fractured at both the macro and micro levels. Some suffering, maybe most suffering, flows from this reality. The cosmos is broken. It isn\u2019t functioning as it was designed. We can know from the Scriptures that God isn\u2019t the author of evil but the source of beauty, goodness, and truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that said, here comes the paradox: God\u2014in His sovereign reign over all things\u2014holds all evil on a leash, including Satan, demons, and the brokenness that leads to sin and suffering. Nothing, not even the brokenness of the cosmos, is without boundaries and limits. Evil and suffering are not omnipotent. They don\u2019t have the final say or authority. There\u2019s more in this part of our paradox, but we need to talk about judo to help us understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How God Uses Evil Against Evil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the martial art of judo, the goal is to use the momentum and strength of your opponent against them. To use their energy and output to ultimately defeat them. Not only does God set boundaries and limits on evil and suffering, but He uses evil and suffering against evil and suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For almost thirty years, I\u2019ve watched as followers of Jesus have been diagnosed with illness, killed in tragic accidents, and on the receiving end of terrible tragedies. Yet, in almost every case, the peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7<\/a>) does its work, and those people begin to minister to others who are hurting. Where evil tries to destroy, God turns it on its head. He sovereignly redeems the suffering of His people by exposing idols, growing their faith and dependence, and granting them His presence in unique and beautiful ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is our paradox: God is sovereign over all things. God is good. God isn\u2019t the author or cause of evil, yet when evil happens, regardless of cause, God can work things for our good and take the destructive hope of evil and redeem it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Sense of Suffering<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having pastored for more than twenty years, I have hundreds of questions about what I\u2019ve just written. I\u2019m sure you do too. These questions can haunt me at times. The \u201cwhere was God . . .\u201d or \u201cwhy would God . . .\u201d questions from people have felt almost too weighty for me to bear on more than one occasion. I don\u2019t just think of these massive questions theoretically and divorced from their humanity. These questions involve actual faces and real tears. The questions are cried or screamed or whimpered into the heavens. How are we to make sense of it all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love this quote by Tim Keller:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.” [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Scriptures don\u2019t seem to be interested in answering all our questions. In the last five chapters of the book of Job, we see there are things we, as finite, created beings, won\u2019t be able to comprehend that God, in His infinite power and wisdom, can. He is good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look to Jesus. Watch Him as He reveals the kingdom of God. See His power over disease and death, His restoring power over tragedy and loss, His tears for the world\u2019s brokenness, and His power to do something about it. This is the kingdom expanding in every direction, whether we see it or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why darkness and pain are thrashing about. They\u2019re losing ground. They are trying to make one last stand in a cosmic war that has already been won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Overcoming Our Anxious Age<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Are you ready to live fully prepared and fully equipped to handle anything life throws at you? As Christians, we can be courageous and confident, knowing that God has placed us in human history for His purposes, and He will empower us regardless of our circumstances. Drawing on the book of Revelation and historical examples, <\/strong>The Overcomers<\/em><\/strong><\/a> will put steel in the spines of believers and remind them of the fierce, conquering, commanding authority of God over all the earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Overcomers<\/em><\/a>, Matt Chandler reminds readers that they don\u2019t have to be anxious or afraid of anything in the present or in the future because both have already been won. We are not victims but overcomers\u2014and we are a key part of what God is working out in our day. God is at work in the mess, just as He has always been, and He continues to accomplish His purpose of seeking and saving the lost.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Overcomers<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In this book, believers will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n