How To Respond To Evil And Suffering

Devotional

Day 1: Hardships as Kingdom Gateways, Not Roadblocks

Paul’s battered body dragged outside Lystra became a doorway to deeper faith. After being stoned and left for dead, he returned to strengthen believers, embodying the paradox that suffering isn’t a detour but the path to God’s kingdom. Hardship strips away self-reliance, forcing dependence on Christ. Like Paul, followers of Jesus don’t avoid brokenness they expect it as the terrain where resurrection power breaks through. The kingdom advances not in spite of suffering, but through it. [52:57]

“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you viewed hardship as an obstacle to God’s work rather than His chosen pathway? What current struggle might be preparing you to receive more of His kingdom?

Day 2: Thanking God for the Wheelchair

Ronnie’s gratitude for his paralysis shocks human logic. His wheelchair became a pulpit, proving God redeems even catastrophic loss. Suffering that seems senseless to the world becomes sacred when surrendered. Like Lazarus’ death magnifying Christ’s glory, our scars tell stories of divine reversal. Every limp, every wound, every tear holds potential to point others to the Healer. Joy isn’t found in avoiding pain, but in letting pain amplify worship. [01:14:20]

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9, ESV)

Reflection: What “wheelchair” in your life have you resented that God might want you to thank Him for? Who needs to hear how He’s sustained you in that struggle?

Day 3: Though He Slay Me: Trusting When Heaven Is Silent

Job’s raw cry “yet I will hope in Him” echoes through every unanswered prayer. God’s silence during suffering isn’t absence it’s the darkroom where faith develops. Like Job, we’re called to defend God’s character even when His ways feel cruel. True trust isn’t understanding the script, but clinging to the Author. The greatest miracles often begin when we stop demanding explanations and start embracing the One who wrote redemption’s final chapter. [01:03:03]

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (Job 13:15, ESV)

Reflection: Where has God’s silence made you question His goodness? How might this season be deepening your capacity to hope beyond what you see?

Day 4: Grace Scars Around Heaven’s Campfire

Paul’s stoning marks and Peter’s prison chains will spark eternal storytelling. Our earthly wounds become heavenly trophies, proving Christ’s victory over hell’s worst. Like battle-hardened soldiers comparing scars, saints will marvel at how God used cancer diagnoses, bankruptcies, and graveside tears to showcase His glory. Don’t hide your scars display them as proof the Healer lives. The darker the night, the brighter His dawn. [01:13:30]

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17, ESV)

Reflection: Which of your “grace scars” have you been ashamed of that God wants to transform into a testimony? Who needs to see your wounds to believe in His resurrection power?

Day 5: D-Day Chaplains and Unfixed Eternities

Eisenhower’s anguished question “Where were the churches?” pierces complacency. Every unreached neighbor, every silent believer, becomes an accomplice to evil’s spread. The church isn’t called to eliminate suffering but to invade it with gospel light. When we prioritize programs over prayer, comfort over courage, we abandon our post. Hell’s advance halts where saints refuse to retreat. The harvest isn’t won by critics in bleachers, but soldiers in trenches. [01:16:16]

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3, ESV)

Reflection: What “beachhead” has God assigned you to storm with His love? How will you shift from avoiding cultural battles to engaging them with gospel urgency?

Sermon Summary

The question, “Why does God allow evil?” does not have one easy, one size fits all answer. The world often says either God is not all powerful or He is not all good, but Scripture refuses that conclusion. Christ Himself stands as the clearest model of innocent suffering and injustice, and His resurrection tells believers to think about the future until the glory of it overwhelms them. The best is yet to come, even when present trouble is real.

Acts 14 puts Paul and Barnabas in the middle of that reality. Paul is stoned at Lystra, dragged outside the city, and left for dead, yet he gets up and goes back into the city. Paul and Barnabas then return to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, the very places where danger had come, in order to strengthen the disciples. Their plain word is not that hardship might happen, but that believers “must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Creation reveals that God did not make a world full of evil, suffering, and injustice. Sin entered through human disobedience, and suffering, injustice, and evil are the offspring of sin. Free will gives humanity real dignity to choose God or to live in His absence, but that freedom also makes rebellion possible. Evil is like darkness, not a thing God created, but the absence of light, the absence of God.

Suffering does not always come as punishment for personal sin, though personal disobedience does carry consequences. Suffering should lead a believer to take a spiritual inventory, repent where repentance is needed, and rest in the grace God provides moment by moment. Romans 8:28 should not be thrown at somebody in fresh grief like a pain pill. Bad things are still bad things, and Christians still grieve, mourn, and carry one another’s burdens while trusting that God will bring good from what He has allowed.

Job shows that pain can deepen trust without supplying every answer. Job complains, hurts, and asks hard questions, yet he still defends God’s character: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Hardship becomes a place where the kingdom of God breaks in, where brokenness can bring a believer to a new level of trust. Christ Himself learned obedience through what He suffered.

God also uses scars for redemptive purposes. Joseph’s brothers meant evil, but God meant it for good. A believer delivered from addiction, homelessness, illness, or loss may reach hurting people in ways others cannot. The kingdom does not hand out merit badges; it gives grace scars that can glorify God and point suffering people toward Christ.

The church cannot check out while evil abounds. Salt and light must move beyond four walls, prayer must matter more than merely planning programs, and lost people must hear about Jesus. Christ’s suffering remains the deepest answer: evil was allowed to continue until just the right time, when Jesus entered human suffering, injustice, and death to secure salvation.

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Key Takeaways

1. Hardship is part of kingdom living Acts 14 does not present suffering as an unusual detour for believers. Paul and Barnabas tell new disciples plainly that hardship belongs to the road into God’s kingdom. Faithfulness to a crucified Lord cannot be built on the expectation of an easy path. [55:02]
2. Grief needs presence, not quick answers Romans 8:28 is true, but truth can be mishandled when somebody is bleeding emotionally. Bad things remain bad, and tears are not proof of weak faith. Love often looks like staying close, mourning honestly, and letting the Spirit bring comfort in His time. [59:36]
3. Suffering can deepen trust in God Job never receives the explanation he wants, but he receives a greater revelation of God. Pain can either push a heart away from God or draw it nearer to Him. Trust grows when a believer keeps defending God’s character in the middle of confusion. [63:25]
4. Grace scars can serve hurting people God does not waste the wounds He has carried His people through. A life rescued from darkness can speak to someone still trapped there with a credibility that cannot be manufactured. Scars become powerful when they glorify the Savior rather than the sin or suffering behind them. [72:13]
5. Christ entered suffering for salvation Jesus did not stand far off from human injustice and pain. He became the ultimate victim of evil, suffering, and death, and God sovereignly used that evil for eternal good. The cross gives suffering believers reason to hope without pretending pain is small.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[47:35] - Why Does God Allow Evil?
[49:16] - Thinking About Future Glory
[51:09] - Paul Stoned at Lystra
[52:36] - Many Hardships Enter the Kingdom
[53:12] - Sin, Evil, and a Fallen World
[57:53] - Trusting God Without Every Answer
[60:01] - Free Will and the Origin of Sin
[61:46] - Returning to Places of Suffering
[64:15] - Where the Kingdom Breaks In
[65:21] - Evil as the Absence of God
[69:17] - God Uses Evil for Good
[70:49] - Using Scars to Help Others
[74:20] - The Church Must Be Salt and Light
[79:19] - Christ Suffered for Salvation

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Acts 14:22
“strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” [52:47]

Romans 8:28
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” [54:46]

Job 13:15
“Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.” [01:03:17]

Observation questions

In Acts 14, what happens to Paul at Lystra, and what does he do after the disciples gather around him? [52:12]
Which cities do Paul and Barnabas return to after Paul has been attacked, and what work do they do when they return? [52:36]
What clear expectation do Paul and Barnabas give new believers about the path into God’s kingdom? [52:47]
In Job 13:15, what does Job choose to do even while he is hurting, confused, and without the answers he wants? [01:03:13]

Interpretation questions

Why might Paul and Barnabas strengthen believers in the same places where opposition and danger had already come? What does this show about their view of people and kingdom work? [01:02:25]
Acts 14:22 says believers must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. How does this challenge the idea that following Jesus should make life easier?
Romans 8:28 promises that God works for good, yet grief remains real. What is the difference between trusting God to bring good from suffering and pretending that the suffering itself is good? [59:36]
Job continues to hope in God without receiving a full explanation for his pain. What does it look like for a person to defend God’s character while still honestly bringing questions and sorrow to Him? [01:03:21]

Application questions

When hardship comes, is the first response usually to pull away from God, try to control everything, or draw nearer to Him? What might help the group choose trust in God in the middle of trouble? [01:04:04]
Is there a present hardship that calls for a spiritual inventory—not assuming it is punishment, but honestly asking whether there is any sin to confess or obedience to pursue? What would repentance and receiving God’s grace look like this week? [01:01:03]
Think about someone who is grieving or suffering right now. What would it look like to carry that person’s burden through presence, listening, practical help, and prayer rather than offering quick answers? [59:54]
What “grace scar”—a wound, loss, rescue, or difficult season—has God brought someone in the group through? If it is appropriate to share, how could that story point another hurting person toward Christ rather than glorifying the pain? [01:12:13]
Paul and Barnabas were willing to return to difficult places in order to strengthen others. Is there a hard conversation, neglected relationship, ministry need, or place of service that God may be calling someone to re-enter with wisdom and courage? [01:02:31]
Jesus entered suffering, injustice, and death to secure salvation. How does looking at the cross give hope in a painful situation without minimizing what has been lost? [01:20:08]

Sermon Clips

30s

#FaithThroughSuffering

“Your suffering may not be because of a sinful lifestyle, but whatever it may be, God may want you to use that to help others who are likewise suffering. And unlike the prosperity gospel that some preach, I tell you it's not a question of if you will suffer, it's only a question of when. So ask yourself, what is God trying to teach me and how can I glorify him through the storm?”

33s

#BestIsYetToCome

“But on the other hand, the New Testament writer said, think. Think about the future. If Christ was raised from the dead, and he was, and you are a follower of his, You are a child of the god of the universe. And that means that bad things will happen, but eventually, god will lead something good out of that. The best is yet to come.”

42s

#GodIsGood

“God did not create evil. In fact, in our world today, it's difficult, if not impossible, I think, imagine just how good creation when God finished. At the end of the first five days of creation, God looked and said, it is good. At the end of the sixth day when he completed everything, God said, it is very good. God's original intent was to create a world without injustice, without suffering, and without evil. But sin entered that world, and it's not been the same since.”

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