I first read Randy's book, "If God is Good..." when my life couldn't have been better. After finishing the book, I felt ... left out! Why hadn't God tested me? Fast forward 10 years, my husband has now passed away after an 8 year battle with dementia. I read the book again. What a different perspective I now had! I was in the club with other sufferers. NOTHING in my life has taught me more about God and his amazing character and promises than the hardest thing I'll ever go through. God surely has the last word over Satan who wants to use our suffering for just that - suffering. God truly does use it to teach us the deepest truths we'll ever know, this side of Heaven. "Take that, Satan. You lose!" —L.H.

If you haven’t read @randyalcorn's stuff, you’re missing out! This book is incredibly helpful for those wrestling with the problem of pain. Get it & read it–for yourself and so you can help others effectively. –D.N., via Twitter

Your book If God Is Good is absolutely a game changer. I have read many many Christian books in my life (including Joyce Meyer and Charles Stanley and TD Jakes and Oswald Chambers just to name a few) but I have to tell you this book is absolutely remarkable and has answered many questions I've had about Hell and why God allows suffering, and has brought me to a new level of trust and love for the Lord like never before. It ranks as one of the best books I've ever read next to the Bible. There is so much prosperity and 'positive thinking' gospel being preached now, it's refreshing to hear someone speak the truth that we are by nature sinful and desperately need Jesus. –S.M.

If God is Good gave me a variety of “Aha!” moments, and couple of "wows.” Two showed up around 2am. The original question was, “Why me?” I have concluded that there is a sequence of questions I went through before coming to the realization that the important question is "What is God up to, and how can I help?" God needed to take me on a journey so that I could get myself out of the way. The physical and mental suffering still hurts. I now view it much differently. Since we all suffer, this book is a tour de force which everyone should read. —Dr. D.B.

I lost my lovely wife to cancer recently, I was destroyed with grief having lost my mum 2 weeks before and my brother 2 weeks after. I searched online and found your books Heaven and 90 Days of God's Goodness, and along with my Bible I devoured them. These books gave me such different perspective on our glorious hope ahead. I had no idea about the New Heaven and New Earth. I had always been taught in church that everything would be destroyed that we knew. I walked hundreds of miles with you speaking into my soul on my iPhone. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me. I've set up a Library of Hope in my wife's memory in The Cathedral in Inverness in Scotland. Your books are all there. They're being read and borrowed.  –A.M. 

I've been in a wheelchair since 2000. I've read and heard so many things that I was jaded and didn't want to hear any more. I appreciate your diligent use of scripture in If God Is Good. You restored my hope in God and His goodness, showing me that I still have purpose. I felt like I was set on a shelf and that Heaven was brass. I don't feel that way now. —W.C.

If God Is Good is an excellent God-focused, scripture-based book. It gives a comprehensive and balanced look at what the entire Bible says about evil and suffering. If you have any question about why an all-good, all-powerful, all-knowing God allows evil and suffering, this book thoroughly answers it. —D.A.

I read this book in the German translation and I found it the best on this subject. Very good and profound. —H.M. (German reader)

I think this book should be on every person's "Must Read" list. I will read and reread it for the rest of my life. I told my daughter, who is away from Christ, that the one thing I ask when I die is that she will read If God Is Good from cover to cover. I don't see how anyone could read this book and not fall to their knees by the end in total submission and repentance to the one true God. —J.R.

If God Is Good is one of the top 5 books I've read in my life, and I don't say that lightly. The concepts are big, but the language is not. I recommend it to anyone who asks for a great book to read! —D.W.

I didn't just read this book, but I actually studied it... solid truth based on God's Word. I have shared your book with many already. It's a life changer for sure!—Anonymous

Some recent years were extremely difficult for our family. It was the hope in the pages of your book If God Is Good and the power of the Scripture packed into it that God used to keep me going most days. God has healed many of the hurts in our family, and continues to heal. When looking back at trials we can rejoice and see that God is good and the trials He allows are for our good and His glory! God used your book to touch my life. —B.E.

I am a pastor in Mississippi. Six years ago today our son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. I tell people often that if it was not for that sickness in my child I never would have discovered what it means to have an eternal perspective. If God is Good means the world to my wife and I. —C.A.

After reading If God is Good, all I can say is thank you. Thank you for not writing a book full of 'pat answers', or one that 'lets God off the hook'. The book was honest and well balanced.
     I have suffered from major chronic physical pain since I was a teenager. I have multiple medical issues (endometriosis, nerve pain, foot pain, migraines) and cannot even remember the last time I was totally pain free. Although I have not come to the point to be grateful for all my pain, I am learning to trust God and see a purpose for all my pain. —J.W.

I just finished reading If God Is Good and I'm so glad that I did! My copy is marked with underlines noting powerful sentences and stars all over the margins. I'm in my mid-twenties and haven't personally experienced a great deal of suffering but I want to be prepared for whatever God has in store for me, and I want to be able to offer biblical answers to others on the topic. I greatly appreciate how heavily your writing is soaked with scripture. You covered so many areas with such a biblical outlook that I plan on recommending this book to many. Along with Heaven I believe that I'll be returning to this book often in the years to come. Thank you for helping me to increase my passion for God and His word. —A.L.

Your book If God Is Good was a great blessing to me while I was going through chemo and radiation during a recent cancer battle.
     It may sound strange, but I heard you every night (well, not you, but the narrator for the audio version of your book). After the cancer treatments I had bouts of insomnia and I would listen quietly to your book on my phone. Fortunately, I would often fall back asleep to the peaceful and truthful words shared by the narrator. However, sometimes I would be so excited about the information that I would have to get up and write my thoughts down. I still listen to it when I can't sleep.
     Thankfully, the Lord has healed me and I am on fire to share His faithfulness and good news until my dying breath. When I see you in His Kingdom I will have to recite some of your book just for kicks! —S.J.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for writing If God Is Good. My 58-year-old mom, previously healthy and extremely beloved, died from pancreatic cancer. She suffered from the disease for twenty months but is now rejoicing eternally. I have been a life-long Christian, but her illness taught me that there was a lot about my faith that was untested, not to mention flawed. For two years I struggled, for the first time in my life, with my relationship with my Lord and Savior as I felt for the first real time His sweet discipline. I started rounding the corner spiritually, tiptoeing my way to MUCH firmer spiritual ground and my husband gave me your book for Christmas. Reading it has become a sort of daily devotion time to me, and I enjoy slowly pouring over every word. Your book has helped me immensely! I feel I can now claim Psalm 40:1-3... He has given me a FIRM place to stand and put a NEW song in my mouth, and I am sooo grateful! I have flagged so many pages with asterisks and underlines and will always have your book to come back to for encouragement and I appreciate your taking the time to write it so much!  Such an important topic and tool for Christians like me who, when faced with a first big test, find their faith shockingly (although no surprise to God!) shallow and imperfect.  —K.D.

As a pastor I can't tell you how much reading If God Is Good has meant to me. I've been at it for months and every time I pick it up it speaks some fresh truth to my heart. Over the last year I have read many of these short powerful stories of suffering souls to our congregation, which I believe will have a profound impact in due time. I just want to express my deep admiration for this profound piece of much needed theology in these days, and I really like the term "compatibilist", it's a good fit for me. —R.T.

If God Is Good is the best book I have ever seen on this sticky subject. Most of the books I have seen either present a mushy defense that is heavily weighted on a loving God or read like theological defense with about as much readability as a the congressional tax code with little compassion for the deep questions and pain that people experience. Alcorn uses a lot of relevant stories of suffering and how those who experienced them found real hope in the Christian faith. This book should be on every pastor’s shelf and should be the basis for a relevant sermon series on this topic for his flock. —M.H., pastor

This was an excellent read and will be a resource for years to come. The clarity of the issues and the biblical responses were terrific. How wonderful it will be when we all come face to face with our Lord and Savior and the joy of eternity overwhelms our temporary and often painful suffering. —L.K.

Because of the depth of its message, it has taken me several months to complete reading If God is Good. It is a book I will refer to often as God provides me opportunities to reach out to others who are in pain. The book is full of my inserted brackets, underlines, asterisks, and highlighted areas so I will have no difficulty locating reference points. I purchased a copy of this book as gifts for several friends, and ordered a copy to be sent to my son in prison. His response is the same as mine, i.e., he finds it impossible to simply “read” the book. Instead, it is a book to be studied and absorbed into one’s approach to the challenges of our life here on earth. —L.M.

I had an opportunity to share with a woman who struggling between Buddhism and Christianity. I shared how Christianity answers the problem of good and evil based on what I learned from If God Is Good. She mentioned she was struggling with what Buddhism has to say about that. You could literally see the light bulb over her head. Thank God for this book because I was ready for a change. —T.W.

My pastor mentioned a special book he treasured. He said if he ever faced an emergency where he had to leave home in a hurry he would take his Bible and that book. I couldn’t think of any of my many books I loved that much. Then I opened If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn, and I understood what he meant.
     I think most of us at some time have stumbled over the question of why bad things happen. Atheists use the world suffering as proof God doesn’t exist. They claim that if He does exist, then He’s neither loving nor very powerful. Randy Alcorn confronts that problem head on. He brings fresh, insightful and powerful answers to the questions about goodness and evil and he gives assurance that God is in control.
     So, if an emergency arrives and I only have time to grab two of my books, I’ll take my Bible and If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn. This should be required reading for all Christians. —B.W.

There are many people who question the existence of God. The question “How could God let bad things happen to good people?” is asked time and time again. Evil is very real in our world. Randy Alcorn uses people’s experiences in suffering along with biblical scriptures to prove the existence of God and evil. He shows how atheists’ own words prove what they are trying to disprove. He lays out what open theists think and shows in scripture where their thinking is flawed. This book will guide you through the scriptures to help you understand the undeniable existence and power of God. —H.K.

 In his excellent book, If God Is Good, Randy Alcorn points out, “Most of us don’t give focused thought to evil and suffering until we experience them. This forces us to formulate perspective on the fly, at a time when our thinking is muddled....It’s far better to think through suffering in advance.”
     Tragedy will come into your life, and it will have one of two effects. Either you will have your faith strengthened and will turn to God for comfort, or you will become angry at God and turn away from Him. It is your choice. Hardships in life will either make you better or bitter. You decide which it will be. Because character is not made in a crisis—it is revealed. —P.M.

Learn more about and purchase If God is Good: Faith In The Midst of Evil and Suffering.