Some nights fall on a whole life at once: bad news, a loss, a season in which the ground seems to move under your feet. In nights like that, the natural reaction is fear, uncertainty, anger, and sadness. Those are normal responses to hard things, and you do not need to be ashamed of them.
The question I want to answer here is the one many believers quietly ask: How does a Christian live in a crisis that threatens everything, and where is God in it? I do not claim to explain everything. I want to share what Scripture shows, with care, and without promising what it does not promise.
God is still on the throne
When pain overwhelms us, it is easy to ask, “If God is in control, why doesn’t he do something?” It can feel as if he has turned his back. If you have asked that, you are in good company; the Bible is full of honest questions.
When trouble comes, there are two ways to respond. One is to say, as an act of trust: “God, I don’t understand what is happening, and everything looks dark. But you know what you are doing, and you are still God.” The other is to let bitterness harden into a conviction that God does not know how to run your life. I believe that second road leads to deeper hurt, and I invite you to take the first one, even if you walk it slowly and with tears.
The psalmist declares: “For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.” (Psalm 47:7, NIV) Then he adds, “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.” (Psalm 47:8, NIV) That is what I mean by sovereignty: God remains King, even when we do not see how.
Where does evil come from?
This is my conviction as a pastor: God is not the author of death or of the pain you may be feeling. We live in a world wounded by sin. From the beginning God gave human beings real freedom, because he wants to be loved, not merely obeyed out of fear. Freedom allowed a choice, and that choice opened the door to suffering and death.
The good news is that God did not leave things there. In Scripture, a rescue plan was already in motion. The last word belongs to God. The Bible promises that one day “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, NIV)
Still, I want to be careful. Saying that we live in a fallen world does not mean that your suffering is a punishment for something you did. Think of Job, whom God himself describes as “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:8, NIV) He lost nearly everything. In my reading, the book of Job warns us against turning every hardship into a verdict on the person who suffers.
The problems that weigh on us seem to come from three places: a world wounded by sin, the wrong actions of other people, and our own failures. It matters to sort out which is which, because the path forward differs for each one.
What Joseph teaches us
Joseph’s brothers threw him into a cistern and sold him as a slave. He was falsely accused and ended up in prison. Years later, speaking to the brothers who had harmed him, he said: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20, NIV)
Read that slowly. Joseph does not say that what his brothers did was good. He says they meant it for harm, and that God brought good out of it. And he says it after many years, not on the first day. If you have been hurt by someone, what was done to you was wrong, and nothing in this passage excuses it or asks you to hurry. If you have been abused in any way, your safety comes first, and a trained professional can walk with you at your own pace.
I believe God can use even what was meant for harm. I also believe that this is a conviction of faith, not a promise that you will feel it soon, or that pain is somehow good.
What the book of Job shows, and does not show
Some people believe Satan runs this world. The book of Job pictures something different. In the scene, Satan accuses Job, saying, “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?” (Job 1:10, NIV) God answers: “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” (Job 1:12, NIV) As the book presents it, the evil one acts only within limits that God sets.
But please do not read the “hedge” as a guarantee that no believer will ever lose anything. Job did lose his possessions and his children. The text shows that evil has limits, not that the faithful are exempt from pain. Jesus says as much: “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33, NIV)
What did Job do? “Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.'” (Job 1:20-21, NIV) And the text adds: “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” (Job 1:22, NIV) Notice that he tore his robe and fell to the ground. His worship came with grief, not instead of it.
Good from the hardest things
Paul writes: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV) This verse does not say that everything that happens is good. It says that God is at work in all things.
The psalmist looks back and says: “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71, NIV) That is a testimony about the past, written by someone who had come through. It is not a rule that God sends suffering in order to teach you, and I would not say it to someone in the middle of grief. What I can say is that many believers, looking back, have found that God met them in their hardest seasons and shaped them there.
Jesus offers comfort without a guarantee of safety: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31, NIV) It says that you are not forgotten; it does not say that nothing will ever hurt you.
Trust, even when you cannot explain
I cannot explain how God works. If I could fully understand and explain my God, he would not be my God. But I can tell you what I hold on to: whatever damage a hard season brings, it does not have the last word.
The risen Christ says: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18, NIV) And: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13, NIV)
He also promises: “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:21, NIV) Your destiny rests in his hands. Trust him, and bring your fear and sorrow to him, and to people who can help.
If you want to look at how our thoughts and emotions shape the way we live through a storm, I write about it in Emotions in the Midst of a Crisis.
In the night you are walking through, what is one honest sentence you could say to God today, and who could you ask to sit with you while you say it?
Would you like to talk with a professional? Call (407) 559-7093 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern) or find professional help here. For general questions that are not an emergency, write to drduany@zodugroup.com. Please do not send health information by email.
This article is for education only. It does not offer diagnosis or personal advice, does not replace evaluation or treatment by a health professional, and reading it or writing to us through this site does not create a therapeutic or pastoral counseling relationship. This site is not an emergency service and is not monitored continuously: do not send health information through comments or public forms. The author is a licensed psychotherapist and pastor, and is part of ZODU.
Sources
- New International Version. (2011). Psalm 47. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+47&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Revelation 21:1-5. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+21%3A1-5&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Job 1:6-22. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+1%3A6-22&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Genesis 50:15-21. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+50%3A15-21&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). John 16:33. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16%3A33&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Romans 8:28. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A28&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Psalm 119:65-72. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+119%3A65-72&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Matthew 10:28-31. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A28-31&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Revelation 1:17-18. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+1%3A17-18&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Revelation 22:12-13. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A12-13&version=NIV
- New International Version. (2011). Revelation 3:21. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+3%3A21&version=NIV
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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