At some point in life, we all encounter and experience suffering -- physical pain, emotional loss, the death of someone we love. During such times we inevitably ask, "Where is God? Does he cause this? Does he allow it? Why does he do either, if he loves me and could prevent this?" My friend and gracEmail subscriber John Mark Hicks has passed through these fires more than once, and has shared his story and some comforting truths about the subject in a profound book titled Yet Will I Trust Him: Understanding God in a Suffering World (Joplin, Mo.: College Press Publishing Co., paper, 338 pp. 1999; order in USA from toll-free 800-289-3300). In this gracEmail and the next one, we will take a look at what John Mark has shared there.
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The year 1977 saw John Mark Hicks fresh out of college and happy with his new bride Sheila. Life had always been good for John Mark, 19, and he thought as a believer that it always would be. His faith was simple, his theological answers were certain and his expectations were sure. He and Sheila planned to do mission work somewhere in Eastern Europe, where John Mark would earn a Ph.D. in theology and return victoriously to the States to teach in a Christian university. Instead, three years later, Sheila suddenly died from an unexpected blood clot and John Mark's life crashed to the ground -- along with his hopes, his innocence and his rose-colored faith.
Three years later, God gave John Mark a new wife in Barbara, then gave them three wonderful children. But life crashed again in 1991 when son Joshua Mark, about five years old, was diagnosed with a terminal genetic disorder which progressively debilitates the body and destroys the brain. John Mark began asking the questions again which plague every suffering believer. Where is God? Does he care? Can he help? If he cares and can help, why does he not do so?
Seeking answers, John Mark turned to the Bible, especially to Job and Psalms, where he discovered "the world of faithful lament" -- the cry of one in pain who shouts at God, questions God, even accuses God, but who finally trusts in God nevertheless. John Mark also rediscovered the larger biblical story as well. Along the way, he earned master's and doctor's degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary. Since 1991, he has taught Christian doctrine at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, Tenn. and at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. In 1999, John Mark shared the understanding he gained through his own travail in his book titled Yet Will I Trust Him. In the next gracEmail we will see some of those insights.
At some point in life, we all encounter and experience suffering -- physical pain, emotional loss, the death of someone we love. During such times we inevitably ask, "Where is God? Does he cause this? Does he allow it? Why does he do either, if he loves me and could prevent this?" My friend and gracEmail subscriber John Mark Hicks has passed through these fires more than once, and has shared his story and some comforting truths about the subject in a profound book titled Yet Will I Trust Him: Understanding God in a Suffering World (Joplin, Mo.: College Press Publishing Co., paper, 338 pp. 1999; order in USA from toll-free 800-289-3300).
God does not directly cause evil, John Mark says, which comes rather from "Satanic freedom, natural chaos, and human freedom." God does allow all that occurs, for he is truly sovereign over all of creation. God's actions always coincide with his loving nature and redemptive purpose, although we often cannot find either love or redemption in our own suffering or in that of others.
To see the true picture of God and his work in our personal stories, John Mark says, we must enlarge our vision to encompass God's larger story, revealed through the biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation. John Mark faithfully leads the reader through God's story throughout most of the book -- beginning with Creation and the Fall, focusing on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, and ending with God's final victory in Resurrection and the New Heavens and Earth. In that light, the author says, we also can begin to see light in the midst of our own darkness.
A comprehensive biblical perspective also provides us with "five theological anchors," John Mark concludes -- all related to God's inherent character and to his purpose in the world. In our suffering we may be "reminded," says this author, of God's "unrelenting love," his "inviting presence," his "caring empathy," his unlimited sovereignty," and his "ultimate victory." To put it another way, "God loves. God listens. God understands. God rules. God wins." These affirmations summarize "the substance of God's story among his people, and God's story gives faith its confidence."
This is not always an easy or comfortable book to read -- but it is honest, thorough, practical, God-centered and exceedingly biblical. Those who suffer, and those who would comfort sufferers, will alike benefit richly from it. For those who do not presently suffer, John Mark's book provides valuable theological perspective for any circumstance the future might unfold.
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