Last week we talked about suffering and endurance. Joseph was given a dream of exaltation, and then his life turned upside down. He was not immediately rescued from betrayal, slavery, false accusation, or prison. He had to keep living faithfully while the outcome remained uncertain. We argued that although God did not intend Joseph’s suffering,…

Last week, we started with a question: What does God do with suffering when He does not remove it? We argued that one thing suffering can do is expose our illusion of control. Peaceful periods of our lives give us an illusion that our future is predictable. But suffering has a way of showing us…

About a month ago, I visited Anonymous. As many of you know, she has been living with cancer for the past twenty-one years and is now receiving hospice care at the home of her daughter and son-in-law. We talked for quite some time. We shared parts of our lives and remembered some of the things…

Throughout His ministry, Jesus healed those who came across His path. Healing was not a side activity in His ministry; it was central to His mission. At the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus stood in the synagogue, unrolled the scroll of Isaiah, and read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he…

Our question for today comes from Mark chapter 10. I’m going to read two consecutive stories in which Jesus asks the exact same question in two very different situations. As you listen, pay close attention to the question Jesus asks—and to the very different answers he receives. The Request of James and John 35 Then James…

We have been examining the questions God asks throughout Scripture. Again and again, God asks questions whose factual answers seem obvious. This raises an important question for us: why does God ask what He already knows? Are these questions merely rhetorical, or do they have a deeper purpose? Do they change the way we see…