Why Suffering Happens (The Theology of Suffering Part 1)

Most people get this wrong about wisdom. Here's what you need to know.

We all seek wisdom, but the truth is, most people find foolishness instead. How can we tell which one we've found? How can we be sure we're finding real wisdom? God makes it clear for us. 00:00 Good news and bad news about wisdom 01:24 Proverbs 1: a scary truth 05:31 Where to find real wisdom 07:39 Claiming wisdom, but they're foolish 09:48 God offers wisdom to everyone...but only His way 13:28 Want justice and equity? 16:08 Wisdom is found in... 17:34 What's happening in the world 20:14 How we can tell what's wise 21:48 Spend time in God's Word 24:48 Wisdom is objective. So is foolishness. 25:51 We CAN learn to be wise 👉 The Argument from Design https://youtu.be/se7ITcY5ams?si=GzK1GV78Q4LHjk-9 [https://youtu.be/se7ITcY5ams?si=GzK1GV78Q4LHjk-9] https://youtu.be/EE76nwimuT0?si=wy2GiU4EDSkuwB53 [https://youtu.be/EE76nwimuT0?si=wy2GiU4EDSkuwB53] 👉 The Cosmological Argument https://youtu.be/6CulBuMCLg0?si=SBwLqfj7Mzeo3N0l [https://youtu.be/6CulBuMCLg0?si=SBwLqfj7Mzeo3N0l] https://youtu.be/vybNvc6mxMo?si=4SxXQLzqE8Cow-ol [https://youtu.be/vybNvc6mxMo?si=4SxXQLzqE8Cow-ol] 👉 Mike Winger's Evidence for the Bible Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuhA0RPKZFHVcjIMN_-F596&si=uxSjPp5Ze_oAIwsc [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuhA0RPKZFHVcjIMN_-F596&si=uxSjPp5Ze_oAIwsc] 👉 Mike Winger's 20 Questions Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHsF2AppZDY7p1wGK0BwahuZ&si=nJpvxGLsDRowdNvP [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHsF2AppZDY7p1wGK0BwahuZ&si=nJpvxGLsDRowdNvP] 👉 Mike Winger's 10 Questions Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHvhn4tTN1DrUkyzRDqxtVxo&si=raG2mYykBlBQ5Y41 [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHvhn4tTN1DrUkyzRDqxtVxo&si=raG2mYykBlBQ5Y41] 👉 My Proverbs Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jw10rbK-jyXkOok4uVa_muJ [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jw10rbK-jyXkOok4uVa_muJ] 👉 My "Wisdom or Foolishness: How to Tell" Blog Post: https://morethanthismess.com/2025/01/13/whoever-is-simple-let-him-turn-in-here-wisdom-or-foolishness-how-to-tell-proverbs-9/ [https://morethanthismess.com/2025/01/13/whoever-is-simple-let-him-turn-in-here-wisdom-or-foolishness-how-to-tell-proverbs-9/] 👉 My "Bible Study Basics" Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jzCMuK1o91xCBhDMI34-3Ix [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jzCMuK1o91xCBhDMI34-3Ix] 👉 My "Bible Study Basics" Blog Series: https://morethanthismess.com/2025/08/29/bible-study-basics-part-one/ [https://morethanthismess.com/2025/08/29/bible-study-basics-part-one/] 👉 My blog: https://morethanthismess.com [https://morethanthismess.com] --------------------------- Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

God Doesn't Want You to Pretend You're Fine. Proof: The Psalms of Lament (Theology of Suffering Pt4)

[Two corrections: at 4:50, it's Malachi instead of Micah. And at 45:20, it's Psalm 51, not Psalm 52. So close! 🤦‍♀😂] You might be surprised to hear that God actually wants us to talk to Him about everything, including our hardest emotions. He doesn't keep us at arm's length until we feel better. In fact, He teaches us how to come to Him in our worst moments -- He shows us how to process our feelings with Him, how to bring Him all our questions and complaints and still honor Him as God. Join me to take a closer look at the Psalms of Lament, and take comfort in knowing that God cares about how we feel and has provided help for us hold onto Him when life is hard. ❤‍🩹 00:00 Intro & Welcome 01:41 About the Psalms of Lament 10:34 The pattern 12:31 Rescue for your heart 14:20 Poetry (it's not wooden) 17:44 Context matters! 19:34 Underlying principles apply to us 21:06 'Permission' to acknowledge hard feelings 22:20 Psalm 10 29:09 Psalm 31 37:26 Psalm 142 41:12 Psalm 143 44:56 Encouragement 👉 Mike Winger's Teaching on Psalm 73: https://youtu.be/NqRYPAIsDQs?si=7zr3-hBA6FnPKbG4 [https://youtu.be/NqRYPAIsDQs?si=7zr3-hBA6FnPKbG4] 👉 My Proverbs Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jw10rbK-jyXkOok4uVa_muJ [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jw10rbK-jyXkOok4uVa_muJ] 👉 My "Theology of Suffering" Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jzZxFWsh_bJcbbuobMVUvEj [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADknl3H78jzZxFWsh_bJcbbuobMVUvEj] 👉 My blog: https://morethanthismess.com [https://morethanthismess.com] --------------------------- Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Tools God Gives Us to Deal with Suffering (The Theology of Suffering Pt 3)

We all suffer, but God doesn't leave us on our own to deal with our suffering in whatever way we can scrape together. He actually provides what we need in His Word -- and what He provides is better than what anyone else can offer! Let's look at 5 ways God equips us for the suffering we'll go through. 00:00 Intro & Recap 02:43 1. God reveals who He is and how He works 11:57 2. God teaches us the truth about suffering 20:21 What most people don't tell you about suffering 22:13 3. God tells us about the future 31:07 4. God shows us how to lament 33:41 Psalm 13 How long, Oh Lord? 35:27 Psalm 42 My tears have been my food both day and night 40:21 5. God gives us each other 48:17 Resources to dig deeper 👉 On Getting All our Spiritual Info Only from Scripture: My video on what we learn from 2 Timothy 3: 15-16 and 2 Peter 1: 3 https://youtu.be/sCTi2X_JZDc [https://youtu.be/sCTi2X_JZDc] My in-depth video on how God provides what we need in Scripture: https://youtu.be/C9WZU2-VRog [https://youtu.be/C9WZU2-VRog] My brief video on how God provides what we need in Scripture: https://youtu.be/vHHMtK_Of-U [https://youtu.be/vHHMtK_Of-U] My brief blog post on how God provides what we need in Scripture: https://morethanthismess.com/2023/05/18/christian-be-on-your-guard/ [https://morethanthismess.com/2023/05/18/christian-be-on-your-guard/] 👉 Mike Winger's Evidence for the Bible playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuhA0RPKZFHVcjIMN_-F596 [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuhA0RPKZFHVcjIMN_-F596] 👉 Wes Huff's "Can We Trust the Bible?" Series Pt 1: https://youtu.be/QhVPBNBAGY0?si=8UnxYqB1n2VGutzK [https://youtu.be/QhVPBNBAGY0?si=8UnxYqB1n2VGutzK] Pt 2: ⁠https://youtu.be/KkmLCWeORaQ?si=vNrsHNbsuZnjktAO [https://youtu.be/KkmLCWeORaQ?si=vNrsHNbsuZnjktAO] Pt 3: ⁠https://youtu.be/lpsKNd8tqHI?si=R1OnuiEsfY5a9VSC [https://youtu.be/lpsKNd8tqHI?si=R1OnuiEsfY5a9VSC] 👉 Heaven by Randy Alcorn https://a.co/d/0bXu5llH [https://a.co/d/0bXu5llH] 👉 Got Questions on the Psalms of Lament https://www.gotquestions.org/psalms-of-lament.html [https://www.gotquestions.org/psalms-of-lament.html] 👉 Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop https://a.co/d/04tVpUQR [https://a.co/d/04tVpUQR] 👉 Hinds' Feet on High Places Book: https://a.co/d/09ugWDyZ [https://a.co/d/09ugWDyZ] Description & Bible study on my blog: https://morethanthismess.com/2024/02/22/book-recommendation-and-bible-study-guide-hinds-feet-on-high-places/ [https://morethanthismess.com/2024/02/22/book-recommendation-and-bible-study-guide-hinds-feet-on-high-places/] 👉 Life Is Hard. God Is Good. Let's Dance. by Brant Hansen https://a.co/d/07BVql1a [https://a.co/d/07BVql1a] 👉 True Comfort Podcast with Teasi Cannon https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNXm7SHidRI5rzHmDZjTHj8IkHEmUHAxr&si=icWny6326WM3LxRr [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNXm7SHidRI5rzHmDZjTHj8IkHEmUHAxr&si=icWny6326WM3LxRr] 👉 Resource Page on my blog: https://morethanthismess.com/favorite-resources/ [https://morethanthismess.com/favorite-resources/] --------------------------- Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Certain Hope: What God Does with Our Suffering (The Theology of Suffering Part 2)

How can we hold onto hope while we suffer? CAN we have hope in the middle of pain and sorrow? We need to find out the truth about suffering -- and to do that, we need to know what God tells us about what He does with it. 0:00 Intro & Review 01:53 What we need to know about suffering 02:33 God is not removed from suffering 03:26 Why we look to the Bible for answers 06:10 Romans 8.28 12:30 Examples in Scripture 14:16 Romans 5.1-5 -- HOPE 23:24 James 1.2-4 27:51 Philippians 1:29 -- Granted?? 35:20 2 Corinthians 11.23-28 39:48 Philippians 1.12-14 40:49 Philippians 3.7-11 43:04 Philippians 4.11-13 46:41 2 Corinthians 12.7 51:51 2 Corinthians 4.6-9, 16-18, 5.1 58:50 Comforting others -- 2 Corinthians 1:4 Mike Winger's Evidence for the Bible playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuhA0RPKZFHVcjIMN_-F596 [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuhA0RPKZFHVcjIMN_-F596] My video on Why You Should Want to Study the Bible: https://youtu.be/P7P6UVlThPU [https://youtu.be/P7P6UVlThPU] My video on Bible Translations: https://youtu.be/aG9ILQYuZ5A [https://youtu.be/aG9ILQYuZ5A] My video on 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1 https://youtu.be/QR5s5P0VNCY [https://youtu.be/QR5s5P0VNCY] How Should a Christian View Scripture? (Blog post with linked references) https://morethanthismess.com/2024/02/03/how-should-a-christian-view-scripture/ [https://morethanthismess.com/2024/02/03/how-should-a-christian-view-scripture/] A Little About Bible Translations and Quotes (Blog post with linked references) https://morethanthismess.com/2024/02/05/a-little-about-bible-translations-and-quotes/ [https://morethanthismess.com/2024/02/05/a-little-about-bible-translations-and-quotes/] --------------------------- Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Why Suffering Happens (The Theology of Suffering Part 1)

Suffering is a part of life. But why? And how should we think about it? God tells us in His Word! And THAT's what we need -- the truth about suffering from God Himself. 00:00 Intro 01:33 Why talk about suffering? 03:05 What is the "theology of suffering"? 04:43 The point of this series 06:17 What should our expectation be? 07:16 Genesis 3 -- sin=suffering 12:43 Our own sin 14:30 Other people's sin 15:30 The state of the world (Romans 8) 17:19 Biblical hope 19:33 We have an enemy 20:16 Why we should expect suffering 20:52 How it helps to expect suffering Why Does Sin Earn Death? (Blog post with printable Scripture references) https://morethanthismess.com/2023/11/30/why-does-sin-earn-death/ [https://morethanthismess.com/2023/11/30/why-does-sin-earn-death/] Why Does Sin Earn Death? (Brief video presentation) https://youtu.be/b-qGfZoEjDo [https://youtu.be/b-qGfZoEjDo] --------------------------- The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.