One of the hardest questions to wrestle with in our faith journeys is the question of evil and suffering. Why does God allow the things he does? Why doesn’t he stop wars, famines, or hurricanes? Why does he allow abuse and broken relationships? Why doesn’t he stop evil corporations or governments?

These questions aren’t new to us. They are all over Scripture. It is the question that is the center of the book of Habakkuk.

As we make our way to the end of chapter 2, God answers Habakkuk with “5 woes” to the Babylonians. These “woes” show that while God used Babylon to punish Judah, he would hold them accountable for their evil actions. But as you read through the woes, we can also see the evil in our day and age. And if we are honest, we can see the evil in our own hearts as God names each one.

Woe #1: The Woe of Money and Greed (2:6 – 8). 

Money and greed are an enormous part of evil. We see this all around us and throughout Scripture. 

Paul told Timothy in the NT that “the love of money was the root of all evil.” Money isn’t evil in and of itself, but how we view and use money can be. 

God is talking about the way the Babylonians handle money, and when money is used for evil and suffering. 

Underneath this woe about money and greed is really pride. A lot of pain and suffering comes from pride. People cheat because they think they deserve something. We hurt people with our words out of pride. We feel hurt or not good enough, so we put people down so we feel better. We are greedy; people are so greedy that we hurt others. People are oppressed, used, abused, left, and cast aside when they don’t serve a purpose.

The question we need to ask ourselves is, Where does money and greed show up as evil in your life?

Where does money and greed show up as evil in your life?
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We can talk about politics and corporations and compare them to Babylon and the evil of Habakkuk’s day pretty easily. But what about us? Are we causing any evil with our money, greed, and pride?

Woe #2: The Woe of Dishonesty and Self-Serving Behavior (2:9 – 11).

Another way to see this woe is as unjust gain.

This might seem obvious, but when we gain by lying, by not telling the whole truth, we gain by being self-serving. 

The superpowers of Habakkuk’s day did this, and so do they today, and so do we. 

This is when we want to take care of our family, to provide, but in our desire, we end up hurting people, using people, and doing wrong. This can also be when we gain money dishonestly. Like this past Thursday and Friday, when you “worked” while watching March Madness!

Underneath our actions in this area is often an “I deserve this.”

This can also be when good motives turn bad. 

This happens to all of us. 

Maybe you’ve experienced hurt because of a parent who couldn’t stop working. They said it was because they wanted to give you things, but it was their pride.

Maybe it was a spouse who couldn’t set boundaries.

This is the thinking that if you make enough money, you can keep pain and hurt from your life. Or, if you can make enough money, you will be somebody, important enough, you can make someone jealous, or get a parent to notice you.

The question we need to ask ourselves is, Are we taking any shortcuts in life? Are we being honest in all areas and all relationships?

Are we taking any shortcuts in life? Are we being honest in all areas and all relationships?
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Woe #3: The Woe of Violence (2:12 – 14). 

God denounces the splendor of the Babylonian empire because it was built on blood, corruption, and they did it all in an effort to gain their own glory.

God is calling out the people who build empires and legacies on the backs of others. That can be the wealthy over the poor, this can be about race or gender. 

But it can also be closer to home. 

How many of us have built our lives, our glory, our little empire on the tears of someone who asked us to slow down? To pay more attention? To care about something else more? How many of us have seen someone try to build their life on the hurt and tears of others?

We also have to be aware of how desensitized we have become to the violence of our world. 

Am I helping to keep violence alive, or am I working to end it?
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This doesn’t mean we turn away and pretend it isn’t happening. 

But now, because we can play Grand Theft Auto and steal a car, play a first-person shooter game, and then watch bombs explode live on TikTok, we are desensitized to the cry of violence and oppression. 

There are now whole social media accounts that are just videos of people dying or getting hurt. 

And we have to ask, “Am I helping to keep violence alive, or am I working to end it?”

Woe #4: The Woe of Hurting Others (2:15 – 17). 

This is exploitation. Degrading those around us. 

This is the person who takes joy in others’ pain. The one who laughs at others’ tears. The one who is callous to the pain of those closest to them. 

The Babylonians would get someone drunk, get them naked, and take advantage of them, degrading and disrespecting them.

This can also be when we watch someone be degraded, ridiculed, and made fun of, and do nothing. This can happen at work or school when someone is bullied, harassed, or made fun of, and we do nothing. 

This can happen when we watch porn and see someone being degraded and humiliated. 

And we tell ourselves that we do it not because we want them to be hurt but because we don’t want to join them.

For some, watching others in pain is enjoyable. 

Here is a question: Do your actions or inactions exploit anyone in any way?

Do your actions or inactions exploit anyone in any way?
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Woe #5: The Woe of Idolatry (2:18 – 20). 

An idol is not a statue you bow down to. An idol is anything you look to, anything you place your trust in to do what only God can do.

It is looking to someone to approve of you instead of God. 

It is looking to your kids, spouse, parent, or teacher for affirmation instead of to God.

It is trying to rest in your control instead of trusting in God’s control and power.

It is seeking to find pleasure and identity in sex and relationships instead of Jesus.

It is whatever you would lose that would make your life not worth living. 

That thing, that person, that dream or hope is something you have placed above Jesus. 

What idol does your life revolve around instead of Jesus?

What idol does your life revolve around instead of Jesus?
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To help you figure out what idols are lurking in your heart, click here to work through a series of questions. 

God tells Habakkuk in verse 20: But the Lord is in his holy temple; let the whole earth be silent in his presence.

God says, I see all of these things. I hear the cry of the oppressed. I see the tears of the broken. 

But I also see the evil that the Chaldeans do. He also sees the evil that we do. 

Verse 20 is crucial to this book and to the question of where God is when life hurts and why God allows suffering and evil in the world.

After saying, “I see all that the Chaldeans do. I see their sin. I see how they exploit people, harm them, and abuse them. I see it all. Justice is coming. Because I sit on my throne in my temple.”

The word temple is the same Hebrew word that the Old Testament prophet Isaiah used to describe God as a judge and the day of judgment, when everyone will stand before God and give an account of their lives.

Tim Keller, in his book Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, said,

The biblical doctrine of judgment day, far from being a gloomy idea, enables us to live with both hope and grace. That all wrongs will be redressed. If we are not sure that there will be a final judgment, then when we are wronged, we will feel an almost irresistible compulsion to take up the sword and smite the wrongdoers. But if we know that no one will get away with anything, and that all wrongs will ultimately be redressed, then we can live in peace. Judgment day tells us that we don’t know exactly what people deserve, nor have the right to mete out punishment when we are sinners ourselves.

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Every one of us experiences hard times, but we view those hard times differently. Some of us are surprised by them when they hit; others seem to expect them (and they miss the good times when they come); some see them as a nuisance you must deal with; others see them as moments to grow and learn from. 

Scripture tells us we shouldn’t be surprised by them. Paul goes so far as to tell Timothy: But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. Throughout history, Christians have debated if they are in the last days. We might be now, we might not be yet. But we should live with the awareness that hard times will come. We shouldn’t be surprised by them. We shouldn’t look for them but see how to learn and grow from them. 

That’s what Paul wants Timothy to do. He gives him a list in chapter 3 of things that can lead to hard times. In verses 2 – 4, he lists 19 different sins that can lead to hard times. To learn and grow from the hard times, we must know what can lead to them and what we should be pursuing out of them. 

Here is the list:

• For people will be lovers of self
• Lovers of money
• Boastful
• Proud
• Demeaning
• Disobedient to parents
• Ungrateful
• Unholy
• Unloving
• Irreconcilable
• Slanderers
• Without self-control
• Brutal
• Without love for what is good
• Traitors
• Reckless
• Conceited
• Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God

Look at this list; which stands out to you as you struggle? It is important to know because that area is where we are most prone to fall into temptation, but also the area that can lead to the greatest heartache and difficulty in our lives. 

The 19 sins can fall into 3 categories: love of self, pleasure, and money. 

Paul gives Timothy a charge on how to fight this:

To fight the love of self, pursue humility. 

To fight the love of pleasure, pursue integrity. 

To fight the love of money, pursue generosity. 

Why do this? Tim Chester says, “All too often, we think of holiness as giving up the pleasures of sin for some worthy but drab life. But holiness means recognizing that the pleasures of sin are empty and temporary, while God is inviting us to magnificent, true, full, and rich pleasures that last forever.”

All too often, we think of holiness as giving up the pleasures of sin for some worthy but drab life. But holiness means recognizing that the pleasures of sin are empty and temporary, while God is inviting us to magnificent, true, full,…
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All of us have lived through a challenging season. You might be in one now, just coming out of one, or one will be coming next year. 

They can happen when we least expect it: a disruption in our career or finances, a child that is hard to parent, a spouse who suddenly becomes distant, a sickness we didn’t expect or plan for, or simply life not going as we planned.

Challenges.

They are relational, financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical.

They know no limits. Challenges have no heart, so they aren’t worried about you and your survival.

The question isn’t if we will walk through them but how to do so. Often, especially as followers of Jesus, we are surprised when difficulties come our way. But we shouldn’t be. Jesus and the disciples all experienced difficulties. Jesus told us we should expect them and prepare for them. 

Difficulties don’t mean you are doing something wrong or have sinned; it might just mean you are alive. 

Difficulties don’t mean you are doing something wrong or have sinned; it might just mean you are alive.
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But what do you do when it arrives? How do you handle the phone call you weren’t expecting or the betrayal you never thought could happen? 

If you find yourself in that place or want to prepare better, here are 3 questions to ask yourself: 

3 questions to ask during a challenging season.
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1. What is God trying to teach me in this season? It is easy to get angry in a challenging season and blame the person you think caused it. You may be right, but doing that will not help you. Eventually, that will exhaust you, and you’ll still be in a challenging season. So take a day, be angry, and then wake up tomorrow and start looking forward. By asking this question, you begin to understand what God is trying to do, which is helpful because it takes our eyes off ourselves. God does not waste experiences and moments. He uses them for his glory and our good.
2. What is God preparing me for by having me in this season? Because God doesn’t waste moments, what we walk through today is helpful for tomorrow. Begin looking forward, looking, and asking God for what He is doing.
3. What is God’s invitation to me in this season? This question comes from Jim Cofield in The Relational Soul: Moving from False Self to Deep Connection. This has been a powerful reminder to me in moments of pain and hurt. Often, in a place of challenge and difficulty, God is stripping away my arrogance and confidence in myself and teaching me to rely on Him. 

But how do we move forward in that season? It is one thing to spend some time digging into what God is doing, but how do we live in a challenging season that might last for years or our whole lives? How do we live with the losses that pile up in life? 

How to survive a challenging season.
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In his book Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth, Samuel Chand lists five things we know about God or learn through difficult seasons:

1. God never abandons us, even when we can’t sense his presence.
2. Our faith and character are developed most powerfully in times of adversity.
3. God sometimes delivers us from pain, but he often delivers us through it.
4. Life’s most defining moments are usually painful experiences.
5. We do not grow in those moments by default.

5 promises of God to you in a challenging season.
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You will find yourself waiting on God at some point in your life.

We will often find ourselves waiting for God to answer a prayer, to speak to us and give us direction, or maybe you find yourself waiting for God to provide you with a reason for the season of pain or difficulty you are in.

What we do in those moments might be some of the most critical moments of our faith journey. Those are the moments when God is doing a lot in us, even if we don’t see it at the time.

In James 5, James gives us a few things to be aware of and ask ourselves while we wait:

4 questions to ask while you wait on God.
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Am I controlling what I can control and releasing what I can’t?

Farmers in the first century didn’t have irrigation systems or even weather radars to know when a storm was coming. They were utterly dependent on the rain. They had to lean into what they could control and what they couldn’t.

We will often feel like we are utterly powerless in life or overestimate how much power we have.

One exercise that has been helpful to me is one Henry Cloud suggests in his book Necessary Endings: list out what you control and what you don’t control in a situation. You might find that you have control and agency over some things you didn’t think and you might find yourself worrying over something you have no control over.

Am I being patient?

James uses the example of a farmer to show us something important while we wait: the kind of patience we are to have.

Farmers cannot make crops grow, but they can do things while waiting.

Patience isn’t something we usually want (at least I don’t), but we must lean into it because things do not change or grow quickly.

James tells us to be patient in our suffering and difficulty, for the Lord’s return is near. This is a reminder that all we are going through will one day be made right, be made new, and that everything we are going through is under the rule and reign of God, which is why James harkens back to the story of Job.

Am I strengthening my heart?

Then he tells us to strengthen our hearts because the Lord’s return is near.

We strengthen our hearts by being in the word of God, by spending time with Him, listening to Him and speaking to him, casting our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7), and sharing our sighs with him (Psalm 5:2).

We also strengthen our hearts in community, being with people who can help to encourage us and spur us on, but who can also help us carry our burdens and point out when we need to have things pointed out to us to grow in our faith. 

Am I guarding my heart?

James then switches gears in verse 9 to tell us to guard our hearts. 

Why?

While we are waiting and walking through pain and difficulty, we are vulnerable. 

He says: Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!

That vulnerability can lead us to complain about each other, judge each other, criticize people or take judgment into our own hands. 

James says, be on guard. 

This is important because, amid our pain, frustration, and hurt, we can easily hurt those around us and take our anger out on them. 

4 questions to ask yourself if you’re going through a hard season.
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What is God doing in you now as you walk forward in a hard season?

It is easy to look forward, to look for a reason for it, but God is looking to grow us in those moments. 

Pete Scazzero said, “To mature in Jesus and learn true faith requires we go through walls, dark nights, and valleys. There is no other way.”

To mature in Jesus and learn true faith requires we go through walls, dark nights, and valleys. There is no other way. -Pete Scazzero
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Sunday, I preached how to walk through pain and life’s difficulties. One of the things I couldn’t get to is how to walk with someone through pain; how do you let others walk with you?

This is often hard to do from both perspectives.

When you are the one walking through the difficulty, we tend to keep it to ourselves. We don’t want to bother other people; we think we should be able to handle it on our own or we struggle to wonder if people care about us.

It is hard to know where to start when you are a friend watching someone walk through difficulty. How do you step in and help? What do they need? Especially around sickness or death, it can sometimes be hard to know what to say or how to say it. We often choose not to do anything, even though we’d like to.

A few years ago, I read a great book by Kate Bowler called Everything Happens for a Reason (and other lies I’ve loved). Kate was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, and in the end, she shares how to walk with people because it is difficult, we want to do it well, but we often find ourselves fumbling about it.

According to Bowler, here are some things not to say:

What not to say to someone walking through a difficult time.
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• ‘Well, at least . . .’ Whoa. Hold up there. Were you about to make a comparison? At least it’s not . . . what? Stage V cancer? Don’t minimize.
• ‘In my long life, I’ve learned that . . .’ Geez. Do you want a medal? I get it! You lived forever. Well, some people are worried that they won’t or that things are so hard they won’t want to. So ease up on the life lessons. Life is a privilege, not a reward.
• ‘It’s going to get better. I promise.’ Well, fairy godmother, that will be a tough row to hoe when things go badly.
• ‘God needed an angel.’ This one takes the cake because (a) it makes God look sadistic and needy, and (b) angels are, according to Christian tradition, created from scratch. Not dead people looking for a cameo in Ghost. Do you see how confusing it is when we pretend that the deceased returned to help us find your car keys or make pottery?
• ‘Everything happens for a reason.’ The only thing worse than saying this is pretending that you know the reason. I’ve had hundreds of people tell me the reason for my cancer. Because of my sin. Because of my unfaithfulness. Because God is fair. Because God is unfair. Because of my aversion to Brussels sprouts. I mean, no one is short of reasons. So if people tell you this, make sure you are there when they go through the cruelest moments of their lives, and start offering your own. When someone is drowning, the only thing worse than failing to throw them a life preserver is handing them a reason.
• ‘I’ve done some research and…’ I thought I should listen to my oncologist, nutritionist, and a team of specialists, but it turns out that I should be listening to you. Please tell me more about the medical secrets that only one flaxseed provider in Orlando knows. Wait, let me get a pen.
• ‘When my aunt had cancer…’ My darling dear, I know you are trying to relate to me. Now you see me, and you are reminded that terrible things have happened in the world. But guess what? That is where I live, in the valley of the shadow of death. But now I’m on vacation because I’m not in the hospital or dealing with my mess. Do I have to take my sunglasses off and join you on the saddest journey down memory lane, or do you mind if I finish my mojito?
• ‘So, how are the treatments going? How are you really?’ This is the toughest one of all. I hear you trying to understand my world and be on my side. But picture the worst thing that has ever happened to you. Got it?

Here are some things to say:

What to say to someone walking through a difficult time.
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• “I’d love to bring you a meal this week. Can I email you about it?” Oh, thank goodness. I am starving, but I can mostly never figure out something to tell people I need, even if I need it. But really, bring me anything. Chocolate. A potted plant. A set of weird erasers. I remember the first gift I got that wasn’t about cancer, and I was so happy I cried. Send me funny emails filled with YouTube clips to watch during chemotherapy. Do something that suits your talents. But most important, bring me presents! 
• “You are a beautiful person.” Unless you are used to speaking in a creepy windowless-van kind of voice, comments like these go a long way. Tell your friend something you admire about his or her life without making it feel like a eulogy.
• “I am so grateful to hear about how you’re doing. Just know that I’m on your team.” Do you mean I don’t have to give you an update? Did you ask someone else for all the gory details? Whew. Great! Now, I get to feel like you are both informed and concerned. So, don’t gild the lily. What you have said is amazing, so don’t screw it up now by being a nosy Nellie. Ask a question about any other aspect of my life. 
• “Can I give you a hug?” Some of my best moments with people have come with a hug or a hand on the arm. People who are suffering often—not always—feel isolated and want to be touched. Hospitals and big institutions, in general, tend to treat people like cyborgs or throwaways. So, ask whether your friend feels up for a hug and give her some sugar. 
• “Oh, my friend, that sounds so hard.” Perhaps the weirdest thing about having something awful happen is that no one wants to hear about it. People tend to want to hear the summary, but they don’t usually want to hear it from you. And that it was awful. So, simmer down and let your friend talk for a bit. Be willing to stare down the ugliness and sadness. Life is absurdly hard, and pretending it isn’t is exhausting.
• *****Silence***** The truth is that no one knows what to say. It’s awkward. Pain is awkward. Tragedy is awkward. People’s weird, suffering bodies are awkward. But take the advice of one man who wrote to me with his policy: Show up and shut up. 

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Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Jon Acuff on “Building a winning mindset”:

• A goal is the fastest path from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow.
• Starting is fun, but the future belongs to finishers.
• Overthinking wrecks more leaders than anything else.
• Overthinking is the most expensive things business invest in every year without even knowing it.
• Overthinking is when what you think gets in the way of what you want.
• The soundtrack changes everything, and we have a soundtrack for every part of our lives.
• The longer we listen to repetitive thoughts, the more it becomes part of the playlist of our lives.
• Soundtracks are the culture of a company.
• Great thoughts lead to great actions. Great action leads to great results.
• Great leaders:
  • Retire broken soundtracks
  • Replace them with new soundtracks
  • Repeat until automatic.
• Ask the loudest soundtracks these questions:
  • Is it still true? Don’t assume all your thoughts are true.
  • Is it helpful? Does the soundtrack push us forward or pull us back?
  • Is it kind?
• Google wondered, “What do the most successful teams have in common?”
  • Psychological safety: a shared belief held by the team that members are safe for interpersonal risk-taking.
  • You can ask questions, suggest new ideas, and admit you’re wrong without being treated poorly by the team.
• You only get to fix mistakes that you admit.
• Leaders who can’t be questioned end up doing questionable things.
• We struggle to know how to replace soundtracks because we think we can’t choose our thoughts.
• Thoughts come by choice or chance.
• Great leaders always pick ahead of time, and they pick thoughts that are actionable.
• You have a soundtrack for every person in your life.
• Empathy: Understanding what someone needs and acting on it.
• What do the people you care about, care about?
• It is much better to meet a need instead of inventing a need.
• You’ll get out of touch if you don’t listen to people’s needs.
• Everyone wants to know: Do you see me? Do I matter?

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All of us have lived through a challenging season. You might be in one now, just coming out of one or waiting for yours to happen. (Only the truly pessimistic of us are really waiting, but you get the idea.)

They can happen when we least expect it: a disruption in our career or finances, a child that is hard to parent, a spouse who all of a sudden becomes distant, a sickness we didn’t expect or plan for, or simply life not going as we planned.

Challenges.

They are relational, financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical.

They know no limits. Challenges have no heart, so they aren’t worried about you and your survival.

Here are some questions I ask myself as I’m going through a challenging season:

3 questions to ask during a challenging season.
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1. What is God trying to teach me in this season? It is easy to get angry in a challenging season and blame the person you think caused the it. You may be right, but doing that will not help you for very long. Eventually that will exhaust you, and you’ll still be in a challenging season. So take a day, be angry, and then wake up tomorrow and start looking forward. By asking this question you begin to get to what God is trying to do, which is helpful because it takes our eyes off ourselves. God does not waste experiences and moments. He uses them for his glory and our good.
2. What is God preparing me for by having me in this season? Because God doesn’t waste moments, what we walk through today is helpful for tomorrow. Begin looking forward, looking and asking God for what He is doing.
3. What is God’s invitation to me in this season? This question comes from Jim Cofield in The Relational Soul: Moving from False Self to Deep Connection. This has been a powerful reminder to me in moments of pain and hurt.

How to survive a challenging season.
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In his book Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth, Samuel Chand lists five things we know about God or learn through difficult seasons:

1. God never abandons us, even when we can’t sense his presence.
2. Our faith and character are developed most powerfully in times of adversity.
3. God sometimes delivers us from pain, but more often he delivers us through it.
4. Life’s most defining moments are usually painful experiences.
5. We do not grow in those moments by default.

5 promises of God to you in a challenging season.
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At some point, all of us have been hurt to the point that we want to retaliate or at the very least, make the other person feel something close to what we feel.

I remember when I was 25 and I was leaving the staff of a church in Maryland. I was young, I was hurt. I felt betrayed and I wanted other people to know it. I wanted people around me to know why I was hurt, I wanted them to feel my pain with them, but I also wanted the who hurt me to get a little bit of what I was feeling.

Then a friend pulled me aside and said to me, “Josh, whenever you tell someone what happened and why you are leaving this staff team, when you go to give them details and talk about your feelings, you need to ask yourself a simple question: why do I want this person to know?”

Honestly, I was angry with him.

I didn’t want to ask that.

The reason I wanted someone to know my feelings was because I wanted them to validate my hurt, join my side, help me push the agenda of injustice I felt or maybe even leave the church I was leaving so the leadership could feel some pain.

I would’ve said that I wanted a friend to hear me out or wanted someone to challenge my sin in the situation, but none of that was actually true.

I wanted vindication and retaliation.

This question, has now caused me to stop when I get ready to share something that happened. It gives me pause to ask what I will gain from sharing something.

There’s something else about this question. Until the motives are pure for sharing something, I have sin in my heart. 

Meaning, until I stop trying to get people onto my side of an issue, I’m sinning by trying to win or control something or I care too much about what someone else thinks.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share things, but it means you need to ask why beforehand.

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Related articles

• Why You Aren’t Ready for What’s Next
• Sometimes When People Leave Your Church, that is God protecting You
• God Will Let You Have Your Sin
• It’s Not Them, It’s You
• When a Staff Member or Volunteer says, “I’m Done”
• How to Forgive Your Father

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One of the mysteries in this life is how God turns our pain and adversity into joy.

Often, one of our struggles in pain and adversity is that we look for things that are not promised.

While God does give us answers as to why things happen the way they do, He doesn’t always. Not only doesn’t he always answer the “why is this happening” question, when he does, it is rarely on our timetable.

We aren’t promised answers. We are however promised that we can have joy (John 16:24), we can have wisdom (James 1:5), we can have God’s presence and peace (Philippians 4:7).

Here is our problem with that: we aren’t always content to have God’s joy, wisdom and peace. We want answers.

It is this desire for answers, this searching for answers (while not wrong) that causes us to miss the point of adversity and what God is doing in it, through it and seeking to accomplish.

In short, we ask and seek the wrong the things.

The post How we Miss the Point of Adversity & Pain appeared first on JoshuaReich.org.

We are kicking off a brand new series on James this Saturday. In one of the commentaries I’m reading, the author made this statement which summarizes what I’m talking about on Saturday really well:

We say that we believe that God is our Father, but as long as we remain untested on the point our belief falls short of steady conviction. But suppose the day comes – as it does and will – when circumstances seem to mock our creed, when the cruelty of life denies his fatherliness, his silence calls in question his almightiness and the sheer, haphazard, meaningless jumble of events challenges the possibility of a Creator’s ordering hand. It is in this way that life’s trials test our faith for genuineness.

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