The thinking often goes like this – if there were a God, not only could He stop the suffering, He would want to stop it. Since there is still suffering, then the God of the Bible must not exist.

However, for many followers of Jesus, it’s not an issue of God’s existence, rather it’s an issue of God’s goodness and greatness. If God is great, He would do something, and if God were good then He would want to do something. As a result of this tension, many Christians experience a deep crisis of faith, some even turn their back on Jesus altogether.

So, what do we do with this tension that seems to exist?

As one author put it,

“If God is all-powerful and all-loving, then He is also all-wise. And if His wisdom is as far beyond ours as His power is above ours, it shouldn’t surprise us that much of His “why” is beyond our immediate ability to understand.” (J.D. Greear, Not God Enough, p. 57)

In other words, if the gap between my wisdom and God’s wisdom is as large as it is, shouldn’t it make sense to us that there would be a lot of things that won’t make sense to us?

The story of Job, although well-known for Job’s intense suffering, is really less about Job’s problems and more about God’s perfect wisdom and plan for His people. Trusting God in the Darkness, by Christopher Ash, is a helpful guide to the book of Job and explores the question, Where is God in the midst of suffering? As you read, meditate, and pray through the book of Job, we trust you will find assurance that God will be with you through every season and trial working out His eternally good plan to absolute perfection.

You can purchase a copy of the book, Trusting God in the Darkness, at crossway.org.