Desperate for Hope: Questions We Ask God in Suffering, Loss, and LongingSample

I love getting notes and letters, especially from my daughters. When Katie, my oldest daughter, was in preschool, she made me a card that featured her answers to several questions asked by her teacher. One of those questions was “What is your mother’s favorite hobby?” I cried when I read her answer: “Making meals for mothers with new babies.” I had no idea she even noticed the little things I did. Her card made me feel known and loved.

What makes you feel loved? Is it when someone offers to help without being asked? Or when a friend sends you an unexpected encouraging note?

When people go out of their way to help us when we’re struggling, we know they care. So, it’s natural to wonder whether God really loves us when He knows our pain yet doesn’t rescue us. It’s hard to understand how a loving God would allow us to suffer when He has the power to easily remove our trials. It doesn’t make sense.

We’re going to explore how God could love us and let us suffer, but first, let’s talk about suffering in general. I see three major categories of suffering mentioned in the Bible.

1. Suffering because we live in a broken world. Jesus encountered many people who were suffering without any explanation as to why (Luke 7:1-10,11-17).

2. Suffering for the gospel. Paul wrote about the persecution and hardship he experienced for the sake of Christ (2 Cor. 11:16-29).

3. Suffering due to national or personal sin. We see this often in the Old Testament when the Israelites suffered because of their idolatry (2 Kings 17:6-18).

All suffering is a consequence of the fall in Genesis 3, which I think is confirmed by Romans 8:20-22. While we often don’t understand why we’re suffering, if we know Christ, we know that He is using our afflictions for our good and for His glory. For Christians, suffering is always interconnected with God’s love.

We’ll start our study with the story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11, which paradoxically begins with Jesus’s absence. This account highlights the questions so many of us have asked, or wanted to ask, and most importantly, how Jesus responds. It is a story about feeling hopeless and abandoned, wondering why Jesus never showed up.

Let’s start with an overview of the story.

Read John 11:1-44, focusing on verses 1-16. As you read, consider your initial observations, such as what questions do you have about the text? What resonates with you? What do you notice about Christ’s love?