When historians in the future list the worst tragedies of our time, what will they mention? Covid? Terrorism? Katrina? Somewhere on that list will probably be school shootings. We have asked the question “Why?” repeatedly in this series. If anything defies our ability to make sense out of human behavior, this crime does.

This is one of those subjects people almost unanimously agree on in one sense and completely divide on in another. They agree that the deaths of innocent people, especially children, is a terrible thing. But they disagree about who is really responsible and what actually causes this atrocity. 

This episode challenges us to look deeper than typical mainstream and social media narratives about this lingering problem in society. 

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• Scripture: I John 3:12; Ezekiel 18:14; Matthew 15:19
• Will It Survive?

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• “Understanding the Times” - RENEW 2024

Studies show that depression is a common problem worldwide. There are many reasons for it. In poor countries the cause may be poverty. In America, ironically, the reason may be wealth. In the Bible we read of many people who struggled with depression—some because of their own choices and others for no fault of their own. All of us must deal with it. 

The book of Ecclesiastes is about depression we can do something about by changing the way we think—not by learning ways to beat the blues with human wisdom, but by restructuring our priorities and adjusting our perspective. 

Some books of the Bible tell you what they’re about early in the book. Others indicate the theme in the middle. This book makes you wait until the end before it puts the whole problem into perspective.

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• Scripture: Ecclesiastes 6-12
• Without Hope

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• “10 N 10” 10 Proverbs in 10 Minutes

He had it all – money, power, fame, and wisdom. He didn't have to worry about having enough money to pay for anything. He never had to ask anyone's permission to do something. He was the king of Israel in its heyday. But he also saw a lot of injustice in life. And with all his power, money and wisdom, there was often nothing he could do about the unfairness of life. He saw others being treated unfairly. And the most seemingly unfair event in life was something that even he could not avoid. That “one event” is death.

So what advice does Solomon give? How did he deal with the problem of evil? What was his conclusion about the injustice and suffering in this life? The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most remarkable books in the Bible on this topic. This episode is part one of a look at the counsel at Solomon gives. 

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• Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1-5
• Rich Without Money

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• “10 N 10” 10 Proverbs in 10 Minutes

Prophets of God were human too. They struggled with their feelings. They felt like giving up at times. They wrestled with the unfairness of life. Jeremiah, sometimes called “The Weeping Prophet,” shows this side of himself in the book that bears his name.  

This man of God asked God “Why?’ and “How long?” But God didn’t give him the answer we might expect. This is a hard lesson to learn, but this episode shows that God expects us to be adults and face our trials with resolve and not self-pity. We see this determination in Jeremiah as he fought against negative feelings and pushed forward. We also see that the hardships he faced activated strength and faith deep within his soul. That faith came from the Word of God in his heart. 

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• Scripture: Jeremiah 
• Teacher’s Annual Lesson Commentary on Uniform Bible Lessons for the Churches of Christ 1947

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• RENEW 2021 – “Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”

What if God did speak directly from heaven and answer our old question: “Why, Lord?” One Old Testament prophet kept crying out to God. He asked why evil was everywhere around him and how long God was going to tolerate it. When God answered him, He told the prophet that He was about to put an end to these evil people and their wicked ways. That should have satisfied the prophet and ended the conversation.

But it didn’t. The man of God asked “Why?’ again: But why are you doing it that way? So even if God were to answer our “Why?” questions, we would just have more. 

This Old Testament prophet was Habakkuk. The book named after him is a tremendous study in the problem of sin and suffering. It is short in length and seldom read, but its benefits are invaluable. 

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• Scripture: Habakkuk
• Without Hope?

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• America Through the Eyes of Isaiah, “A Drop of a Bucket” track 19

If you are a Christian, it is scary to think about losing your faith. How does this happen? It happens when we are pulled away from God. It occurs when we are distracted. When we look at the world instead of listening to God, we are vulnerable. 

One of the great things about the Bible is its honesty about good and great men. It does not pull punches. Even the greatest men of the Bible were human. They were tempted and sinned. If it were otherwise, how could we relate to them?

In this episode we will look at one of the lesser known writers of the Bible. His name was Asaph. His story is like a chapter in his autobiography. He confesses his innermost feelings. He almost lost his faith because evil people had a good life—a life that seemed better than the life that good people had.

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• Scripture: Psalm 73
• “This is Not the Answer”

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• America Through the Eyes of Isaiah

How do you respond to a child or teenager who is complaining about something he doesn’t understand? You might try to explain, but he may not be ready for that. If he’s a teenager and is convinced he’s right, you’ll probably ask him some questions to show him he doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does. That’s what God did with Job. This final section to the greatest book ever written on the problem of evil ends with God responding to Job. God doesn’t give an explanation. He doesn’t tell Job he’ll learn better when he’s even older. He doesn’t tell him to read books on this profound issue of life. He points him to something he already had right before him: nature, the creation of God. This is the simple but overlooked key to this whole problem. Read these chapters closely and prayerfully and behold God’s creation around and above you with a different perspective and the problem of sin and suffering won’t seem so unbearable.

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• Scripture: Job 38-42
• "Alone"
• Teacher’s Annual Lesson Commentary on Uniform Bible Lessons for the Churches of Christ, Gospel Advocate Series 1951

The argument had come to a standstill and God wasn’t speaking. That’s how the debate ended between Job and his three friends. They said their peace (and then some) and reverted back to the silence we see in chapter two. But unknown to the first-time reader of this book when Job chapter 31 ends was someone else. A younger man had been there listening to them argue. By the time they finished, he was about ready to explode with his view of this matter. 

His name was Elihu. Up to this point he had refrained from speaking out of respect for his elders. But he was deeply convicted in what he was about to say. And when he spoke, he had a different point of view about this whole discussion. 

Elihu’s words are very much worthy of our consideration. We could call him the man God didn’t rebuke because that is what happened in the end.

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• Scripture: Job 32-37
• Teacher’s Annual Lesson Commentary on Uniform Bible Lessons for the Churches of Christ 1951

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• I Peter Bible Commentary

It is very easy to get things out of perspective when we're stressed and hurting. We pull into ourselves in a self-protective mode. In a sense this is a natural response to suffering. It's part of the healing process. But we must not allow self-protection to become self-pity. And, when life has been very unfair to us, we naturally want to defend and justify ourselves. But we can go too far. We can be so determined to vindicate ourselves that we forget about the injustices that others face. We can even become angry with God. This happened to Job. And if it happened to one of the greatest men in the Bible, it can happen to us. 

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• Scripture:Job 22-31
• “Do Trials Make Us Patient?”

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• “Delighting in Mercy”, James McGill RENEW 2018 “Who is like unto Thee” (Exod. 15:11)

We can only go so long without encouragement before we feel like we’re going to break. Christians are children of God, but we are human. We need encouragement from likeminded people. We need the support of others, especially when we’re down. “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” (Prov. 12:25). 

But sometimes we must face trials without encouragement for a while. This is what Job experienced. He felt all alone. Elijah the prophet felt the same way in I Kings 19 when he was on the run for his life. But there were many others who would have supported him had they been with him. In Job’s case, his friends are with him, but all they can do is criticize him, and his relatives and other acquaintances have turned their back on him. But Job held on to his faith—even though he felt that God had forsaken him as well! Learn from this great man’s example of perseverance as we delve deeper into this story.

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• Scriptures: Job 6-21
• “Alone”

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• RENEW 2021 Lectureship “Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”