Suffering

In a world obsessed with achievement, pleasure, productivity, and self-creation, the book of Ecclesiastes speaks with startling honesty about the human condition ‘under the sun.’ It gives voice to questions many of us quietly carry: What’s the point of all our striving? Why does success often leave us unsatisfied? How do we live meaningfully and with real joy in the face of suffering, disappointments, and death?

Gideon’s story, reflecting the whole of the book of Judges, calls us to question how our identity plays a part in navigating the variety of the circumstances of life.

Job is one of the most enduring stories ever told about suffering, revered across Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. Faced with devastating loss, unanswered questions, and unhelpful friends, Job’s story teaches us invaluable lessons on how to deal with persisting pain in life and find a pathway through it.

Suffering often creates crisis, but crisis can be an invitation to clarify the sources of our hope. Isn’t life about more than survival? How do we find a life rich with purpose, even and especially in the face of suffering?

Whether through unjust treatment or uncontrollable trials, suffering in life is inevitable. The question is–how we respond? This extraordinary story shows us how to persevere through pain, not only with courage, but other-wordly joy.

What makes for a healthy church in a large city? What we see at the first-century church at Antioch, the third-largest city in the Roman empire at the time, is a beautiful case study: people coming to faith in Jesus, healthy dedicated leaders, Christians trained to be faithful disciples, and uncommon generosity–all marks of God’s gracious hand at work.