God and Suffering: Trusting God In It, Lesson 7

The net result of experiencing pain is hopefully a turn toward God.

Psalm 77:2-3;7-12 traces the path and the familiar verse we can rest upon is Romans 8:28. Implicit in these passages is a trust, a faith, that manifests well before we know the net result.


If God is working for me and with me, it's no longer simply an autonomous deal God has going. He's involving us in the process of our maturation, our spiritual growth, and our benefit.


The most important question isn't "Why Me?", rather it is, "What now?".


Dr. Brand said, "One of the great things about pain is that it so often brings us back to God."




I especially love CS Lewis' quote on pain that it is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Classic, and necessary.


Paul's declaration of confidence ("And we know…") can be unsettling. In the context (the entire chapter of Romans 8), God's sovereignty is the pillar holding everything else up.



Express in your own words the differences between these statements: "all things are good" and "all things work together for good."

All things are not good, although everything God created was good. Implicit in this verse is although not all things are good, God will take the bad and good and weave it together for our benefit.


Psalm 28:7

Psalm 32:10

Psalm 84:12



Paul says that behind the "all things" and the resulting good are God's overarching purposes. In the following verse (Rom. 8:29), what are those purposes for which God is at work in your life? How are they seen?


If I know God is working it all out for my benefit, I can trust him completely.


How Does God Keep His Promises?

Psalm 115