Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

by Timothy J. Keller

Suffering “plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.”9 It is an exaggeration to say that no one finds God unless suffering comes into their lives—but it is not a big one. When pain and suffering come upon us, we finally see not only that we are not in control of our lives but that we never were. Over the years, I also came to realize that adversity did not merely lead people to believe in God’s existence. It pulled those who already believed into a deeper experience of God’s reality, love, and grace. One of the main ways we move from abstract knowledge

about God to a personal encounter with him as a living reality is through the furnace of affliction.

Believers understand many doctrinal truths in the mind, but those truths seldom make the journey down into the heart except through disappointment, failure, and loss.

suffering is at the very heart of the Christian faith. It is not only the way Christ became like and redeemed us, but it is one of the main ways we become like him and experience his redemption. And that means that our suffering, despite its painfulness, is also filled with purpose and usefulness.

Like fire working on gold, suffering can destroy some things within us and can purify and strengthen other things. Or not. It depends on our response.

To walk with God is a metaphor that symbolizes slow and steady progress.

That is the character of Christian peace. It is an inner calm and equilibrium but also a sense of God’s presence and an almost reason-transcending sense of his protection.

“Think it out! Think about the glory coming until the joy begins to break in on you.”

There is a “stupid peace” and then there is a “smart peace.” The stupid peace comes from refusing to think about your overall situation. If you go that way, you can pop a cork, sit under a tree or on the beach, and try not to think about the grand scheme of things. But Paul is saying that if you are a Christian, you can think about the big picture, and as you do, you are going to find peace. And if you are a Christian, and you have no peace at all, it may be that you are simply not thinking.

Look at what Jesus did for you—that is how to find God irresistibly beautiful.

Human beings are hope-shaped creatures. The way you live now is completely controlled by what you believe about your future.