Biblical Help When Life is Unfair

Dr. Roger Barrier, Preach It, Teach It

Editor's Note: Pastor Roger Barrier's "Ask Roger" column regularly appears at Preach It, Teach It. Every week at Crosswalk, Dr. Barrier puts nearly 40 years of experience in the pastorate to work answering questions of doctrine or practice for laypeople, or giving advice on church leadership issues. Email him your questions at roger@preachitteachit.org.

(Dear Reader, the following letter was written by a woman in another country who is in the throes of an acrimonious, three-year dragged out divorce. I am choosing not to fix all the spellings and poor grammar--except for adding a few marks of punctuation where needed for clarity. I don't want to interfere with the hurt and passion in her letter).

Dear Roger,

I would like to know why in my eyes are those who are unfaithful in their marriage are more blessed then the faithful ones.

What Kind of God Would Condemn People to Eternal Torment?

by Tim Challies

If you haven’t been asked this question, you will. It’s the weightiest matter anyone will ever face. The key is to look at the question from a different angle—what kind of God would not condemn His enemies to an eternal hell?

How can you believe in a God who would condemn people to suffer the torments of hell eternally? I have been asked this question many times and, if you are a Christian, you probably have too. If you haven’t, you would do well to get working on an answer because the question may not be too far off. 

Hell is no laughing matter, despite cartoons and lampoons to the contrary. In all the world, in all eternity, there are few matters weightier than this one, and to every man and woman there is no issue more urgent.

You’re Asking the Wrong Question

How can you believe in a God who would condemn people to suffer the torments of hell eternally? I reply with a question of my own: “How can you believe in a God who would not?”

It’s Only a Season

Trish and I have been talking a lot lately about seasons of life. As parents of two teenagers and one that drives, we have entered a new season of life. New seasons of life can be exciting. But not all seasons of life feel good. They can be painful, lonely, heart-wrenching or dry.

As I think about people in Scripture, their lives seemed to have seasons. Jacob went through a season of being deceitful, then a season of running. Joseph went through a season of being the favorite, then a season of being resented, then a season of being forgotten in an Egyptian prison, then a season of great success. 

No Safety Net

Mary Southerland

Today’s Truth
“The Lord answered him, "I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are fighting are only one man" (Judges 6:16, NCV).

Friend to Friend
I was born to be an elementary school teacher – period. So when a total stranger tapped me on the shoulder and said, “While you were singing, God told me that you are supposed to be my Music and Youth Assistant this summer,” I felt sorry for him. He obviously needed to have his hearing checked.

I had just graduated from college with an elementary education teaching degree. A good friend was leading worship for a local church and asked me to sing a solo in the evening service. That’s all – or so I thought. When the service ended, my good friend introduced me to his good friend, the hard-of-hearing stranger, and said, “You should at least pray about his offer.” I did. And here I am – thirty years later – an unlikely servant who lives in constant amazement at God’s plan for her life.