Why Some Trials Never End
People who live with chronic pain tell us that after a while the real hardship is not that it hurts but that they have little hope that it will ever stop hurting. Trials can present themselves as never-ending: Will this grief ever end? For believers, time often allows us to see that God is in fact working all things together for good (see Romans 8:28).
Meanwhile, lasting trials fit within the following five biblical borders:
- Omnipotence has its limits. When you say God is all-powerful, that doesn't mean God can do absolutely anything you can conceive of. There are many things God can't do. God can't make a round square or even a married bachelor. God can do anything that can be done. God can't contradict or contra-act Himself.
- The world God made is good. In its original form the world was perfect. But God wanted a world in which people were free to choose. God wanted meaningful relationships. In order to have heartfelt worship and meaningful obedience, there had to be the possibility of meaningful disobedience.
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