If it hasn’t happened already, at some point your life will take some unexpected turns. When that happens, suddenly everything we say we ‘know’ about God – and ourselves – gets called into question.
In many ways, no one else can prepare us for the suffering we will face.
But it’s also true that others have gone before us, and God wants to use their stories to prepare us for the darker parts of our own journey.
In this interview with Dr. Chuck Betters of MarkInc, I had the privilege of sharing about a hard time in our lives, when our son Matthew was diagnosed with autism. I hope that it encourages you as you face whatever you’re going through, or, will at some point in the future.
Here are some things we touch on in our conversation:
- how suffering can impact our marriages, and how we can fight to preserve them
- how staying in God’s Word is vital to handling our struggles
- the powerful ways the Book of Job completely re-frames how we view, and respond to, seasons of suffering
- practical ways caregivers can stay strong as they walk through suffering
- an important question to ask (and answer) when we suffer
- non-negotiables for caregivers that will help them care for their loved ones better, and stay strong themselves
- one powerful way God redeems our pain and struggles
- God’s invitation to ‘beat on his chest’ when we suffer, and get angry with him
- how suffering forces us to press into God in ways we had never imagined
- how grief is like being tied to railroad tracks when you see the train coming(!)
MarkInc, by the way, is a fantastic ministry that provides practical, biblical hope for people who are suffering. It began after its founders, Chuck and Sharon Betters, lost their son Mark in a fatal car accident.
Their podcast, Help & Hope, contains many other incredibly honest conversations on topics like depression, adultery, disability, cancer and addiction. I definitely encourage you guys to check it out.
Further reading: in some ways, this conversation grew out of an article I wrote for Desiring God called ‘When The Future You Planned For Never Comes.’