Reflections on Suffering

Why write about suffering? Because it is a question I have had to address so often in my own life and throughout my ministry. People want to know, “Why?” Why do Christians face devastating tragedies in their lives? Why do cities flood? Why do children die from cancer? Why does an earthquake reduce an area to a pile of rubble? Why do pedophiles get released only to then murder someone’s daughter? Why do drunk drivers kill innocent children? Why does domestic violence still exist in families in our churches? I also wanted to address the issues surrounding suffering that are often confused with carrying our cross. Are we called to suffer as Christians? If so, what does this suffering look like? Many people confuse the suffering that God hopes we work to end with the suffering that he asks us to carry. Through this book, I hope readers or class participants open their minds and their hearts to examine honestly the crosses God may be asking us to bear along with ways to end needless suffering in our world. I began this book with a fictional account of a woman named Maggie facing a suffering world and facing her own suffering. I chose this story to open the conversation about suffering in general without focusing on any personal account for readers.