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Randy Alcorn’s 90 Days of God’s Goodness: Freedom and Comfort in Truth
Don’t you love the heartfelt honesty of the words God has chosen to include in the Bible? “My soul is weary with sorrow.” It’s the burden of life in a hurting world that causes the writer to turn to Scripture for strength: “Preserve my life according to your word.… Strengthen me according to your word.”
If abuse, rape, desertion, paralysis, debilitating disease, or the loss of a loved one has devastated you, then the issue of evil and suffering isn’t merely theoretical, philosophical, or theological. It’s deeply personal. Logical arguments won’t satisfy you; in fact, they might offend you. You need help with the emotional problem of evil, not merely the logical problem of evil. Like children at times, each of us must snuggle into our Father’s arms, and there receive the comfort we need.
But remember this: you are a whole person. Truth matters. To touch us at the heart level—and to keep touching us over days, months, years, and decades—truth must work its way into our minds . Never seek comfort by ignoring truth. Comfort in falsehood is false you try to soothe your feelings without bothering to think deeply about ideas, you are asking to be manipulated. Quick-fix feelings won’t sustain you over the long haul. On the other hand, deeply rooted beliefs—specifically a worldview grounded in Scripture—will allow you to persevere and hold on to a faith built on the solid rock of God’s truth.
In writing his magnificent story of redemption, God has revealed truths about himself, us, the world,goodness, evil, suffering, and Heaven and Hell. (I capitalize those terms as proper nouns throughout the book because they are actual places, like New England or Saturn.) Those truths God reveals to us teem with life. The blood of man and God flows through them. God speaks with passion, not indifference; he utters fascinating words, not dull ones. To come to grips with the problem of evil and suffering, you must do more than hear heart-wrenching stories about suffering people. You must hear God’s truth to help you interpret those stories. all-good, kind and all-wise. And he is also our Abba, our Papa. But we do not always feel warmth and security, do we?
Randy Alcorn’s 90 Days of God’s Goodness: Freedom and Comfort in Truth
Randy Alcorn"s 90 Days of God"s Goodness: Freedom and Comfort in Truth