When Suffering Clouds the Sun

It’s a bright time of year, and the beauty of the greater Roanoke Valley has opened to its full splendor. We are so blessed to live here in such a place as this in God’s creation. Like many, I have traveled far and wide, but I have yet to visit a locale that I thought would be a better place to live.

It’s a bright time of the year. But even on sunny summer days, clouds of suffering, pain, and evil can block our views. Beauty can be blurred. Joy lost. God nowhere to be found. What then? How do we deal with days when suffering clouds the sun—or maybe even the Son Himself?

The reality of suffering and evil in our lives and in the world at large is perhaps the singularly most pressing issue that challenges a person of faith. Many of us struggle to hold to belief in a good and gracious God, all powerful and knowing, in every place and time, in the face of great suffering, terrible acts of violence, war, disease, and death.  We are not alone in these questions, and two authors in particular have recently offered their deep, theological and biblical help. Christopher J. H. Wright, an Anglican scholar in England, invites us into contemplation with The God I Don’t Understand- Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith. Wright’s analyses of the problems evil and suffering pose to Christian faith are never superficial and always personally engaging. He especially invites us to consider Psalm 73 and the meaning of Christ’s cross when dealing with these troubling issues.

Another helpful recent volume is John Stackhouse’s, Can God Be Trusted? Faith and the Challenge of Evil. Stackhouse, a professor of theology at Regent College in Vancouver, draws upon 2,000 years of Christian theological wrestling over the presence of evil in the world. Stackhouse also includes ancient philosophical perspectives to add depth to his arguments.

Both books are ideal for a small group discussion series or for personal edification. Especially in this bright time of the year, it’s a good time to prepare our hearts and minds for those days that inevitably come, when clouds block our view of God and His beauty and joy. These books and others can be valuable aids toward helping us see through those clouds.