At the RHMA conference, D. A. Carson gave a two part seminar on “How To Think Wisely about Suffering and Evil.”  I wish you could have heard the entire thing.  What follows doesn’t begin to give the topic or seminar justice, but are simply some points that stood out to me:

• We all sin, so we all deserve to suffer.
• Suffering is short compared to eternity (at least for those in Christ).
• We can’t grasp God’s plan; we need to trust him.
• Our suffering may be God’s providential discipline (Hebrews 12:3-11).
• God brings good things out of bad things (think Joseph in Egypt).
• When you doubt God’s goodness, go back to the manger and the cross and see his love.
• Christians have been granted to believe and suffer (Philippians 1:29).