Suffering comes to us all. It may be disease or debilitation, pain or persecution. Our difficulties may be invisible to others or impossible to hide. Sometimes we suffer because of our Christian witness. Other times it’s simply part of living in a fallen world. But suffering affects us all, in ways we don’t always anticipate.
Christians today are often not prepared to suffer well and have a shortsighted view of pain and trials. Ken Boa shows how God uses suffering to shape his children for eternity and to grow them in Christlike character. The book of 1 Peter tells us suffering is both a guarantee and comparatively brief; we shouldn’t be surprised when it comes to us. The nature of our affliction is not as important as our response to it. God is at work through our hardships and wants to use them to prepare us for eternal life.
Suffering can make us bitter or better. Rediscover living hope, present joy, and a glorious future.
Kenneth Boa is an author, a speaker, and the president of Reflections Ministries, Omnibus Media Ministries, and Trinity House Publishers. He is the author of over fifty books, including Conformed to His Image, Faith Has Its Reasons, Rewriting Your Broken Story, and Life in the Presence of God. He is a contributing editor to the Open Bible, the Promise Keepers Men’s Study Bible, and the Leadership Bible, and is the consulting editor of the Zondervan NASB Study Bible.
Boa earned a BS from Case Institute of Technology, a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary, a PhD from New York University, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford. He teaches a weekly Bible and faith study at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he resides with his wife.
Jenny Abel is an editor and a writer for Reflections Ministries and Omnibus Media Ministries. She coauthored A Guide to Practicing God’s Presence with Kenneth Boa and edited Life in the Presence of God. She is a freelance writer and editor through Jenny M. Abel Editorial Services and has over fifteen years of experience in editing, writing, and communications. She previously worked in development and wrote for the president at the College of William & Mary, where she was assistant director of donor communications. Prior to that, she handled communications for an international ministry, served as associate editor and freelance writer for a regional family magazine, and worked for two legal offices. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, Robert.
