Recommended Resources: April 20, 2020

When God Weeps by Joni Eareckson Tada

Recommendation by Pastor Tim St. John

The honor of counseling those who are suffering seems to always come with challenging questions like: “Why me, God?”,“How long will I have to suffer?”, and “What is God’s purpose for allowing all this pain?” Joni Eareckson Tada’s book, “When God Weeps,” takes up these challenging questions and answers them biblically, personally, and with a focus on Christ.

In the beginning, Joni recommends that you not read the book if you’re still angry. But Joni’s writing is so personal that I think you will find your heart softening as you read the book, even if your heart is still wrestling with present suffering. The theology of suffering is focused on Christ and is beautifully woven with stories of her own suffering and the stories of those she has ministered to. Her stories of suffering have been forged during more than forty years in a wheelchair as a quadriplegic. Yet every one of her stories are Christ-centered and as you read you get to witness how she wrestled through her suffering again and again to center her heart on Christ.

However Covid-19 is touching your life, this book can comfort you through the pain, help you see Christ’s purposes in your suffering, and equip you to care for those hurting around you. If you’d like to use it as a discipleship tool, our counseling ministry has written a study guide to go with it. You can download it here.

Here are a few quotes to help you see the personal, practical, and Christ-centered qualities of this work:

“Gut-wrenching questions honor God. Despair directed at God is a way of encountering him, opening ourselves up to the One and only Someone who can actually do something about our plight. And whether we, like Greg, collide with the Almighty or simply bump up against him, we cannot be the same. We never are when we experience God.”  (155)

“God, like a father, doesn’t just give advice. He gives himself. He becomes the husband to the grieving widow (Isaiah 54:5). He becomes the comforter to the barren woman (Isaiah 54:1). He becomes the father of the orphaned (Psalm 10:14). He becomes the bridegroom to the single person (Isaiah 62:5). He is the healer to the sick (Exodus 15:26). He is the wonderful counselor to the confused and depressed (Isaiah 9:6). This is what you do when someone you love is in anguish; you respond to the plea of their heart by giving them your heart.” (125)

Do We Really Want to Go Back to Normal?

Expanding on some of the things Pastor David preached on, Trevin Wax has us consider what “normal” will look like for us as Christians through the coronavirus and after.

The Importance of Lament in the Midst of COVID-19

Sometimes we assume the Christian response during trials, like the coronavirus, is to maintain a happy demeanor. Philip Graham Ryken shows us lamenting and sadness can be a proper response in times of suffering.

Is Everything Sad Going to Come Untrue? Why We Need Eschatology Now More than Ever

The Bible teaches us our hope is certain. Let’s be active in preparing our minds by remembering the glory of Jesus Christ and what’s to come. Our longing for reprieve from the pandemic should catapult us to when all things will be made new.

Help for Quarantined Marriages

In this article, a couple shares what they have learned about their marriage in this season of quarantine. The same principles can be applied towards others we live with: children, roommates, parents, etc.

Is This A Judgment?

One of the humbling realities of this pandemic is in how our sin has surfaced. This article walks us through some considerations on how this virus could be God’s pruning judgment for our good. This season provides us unique ways to grow, but only if we will first admit and address our need to repent.

Where’s God When COVID-19 Kills My Business?

This pandemic may result or has resulted in the loss of jobs or businesses. To comfort our hearts, here are some considerations of what God may be doing in our lives.