Laments make up more than one-third of the psalms. The contrast between Israel’s hymnbook and the church’s says a great deal about our failure to acknowledge suffering. 

Müller recounts how he prayed when he discovered his wife had rheumatic fever: “Yes, my Father, the times of my darling wife are in Thy hands. Thou wilt do the very best thing for her, and for me, whether life or death."

Tozer, one of my all-time favorite authors, makes a great analogy in this sermon, shared in the book The Attributes of God Volume 2: Deeper into the Father's Heart.

God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice” (Acts 17:31). But why a future day of judgment?

We won’t all, in this life, meet someone whose story will suddenly shed light on God’s purpose in our loved one’s suffering or death. But I think most of us will have that very experience one day on the New Earth.

If you have accepted God’s invitation of salvation, He will deliver you from eternal suffering. And even now He will give you joyful foretastes of living in His presence.

I never presumed that If God Is Good would work magic or make anyone’s problems disappear. But my prayer, then and now, is that readers will not only find help for themselves, but also life-changing insights to share with others—believers and unbelievers, family and friends, neighbors and co-workers—in their time of greatest need.

Like all of you, I was greatly saddened to hear of the attacks in Paris last Friday. Nanci’s and my prayers have been with the people of France. 

In October 2015, Randy Alcorn was a guest on Greg Laurie's Podcast, A New Beginning, talking about happiness.