Insights to Hard Times and Perseverance
I first read How Long, O LORD? in 1995, when I was fighting for my spiritual survival. Then again, many years later as a reminder of vitally important truths that a Christ-follower must hold onto . . . literally for dear life.
Reflections on Suffering & Evil. Yikes! That’s the jolting sub-title of Carson’s book! He calls his book preventative medicine, mainly because he sees that many Christians are literally sucker-punched by grief and adversity . . . and they abandon their faith journey! Carson’s wisdom helped me work through some very tough trials—but more so, he points us to the raw and uncompromising truths of Scripture.
On my ministry radar, I’m painfully aware of a family who lost a son to alcohol addiction. In another dreadful case, neighborhood friends brought home their daughter from college on a Wednesday to admit her to a drug rehabilitation facility on Friday. But on Thursday she somehow secured a dose of heroin which proved fatal. In still another family, sobriety is counted in days, not months, and relapses keep them on the edge of the unknown.
Look, too, at the front page of your newspaper. It chronicles every day another chapter of gun violence in our schools, hate playing out between Hamas & Israel, Russia and Ukraine, Boko Haram’s violent lunacy in Nigeria, and thousands of 
terrified kids and families on our southern border. Ugh!! Every one of these situations, and countless more, raise hard questions about God’s Sovereignty and control . . . and it’s easy to ask:
“Why does this level of suffering and evil exist in the world . . . and in my life? Why doesn’t God step in and punish the guilty and restrain this nonsense, especially when it claims the innocent? Maybe you’re not a God of love after all? Or, maybe, you’re just not there at all?”
In the depths of personal crisis, these questions can creep like a menacing Pitbull into every corner of our lives. Is it possible to move past these doubts, in faith, when we face devastating loss and catastrophic circumstances? I describe that challenge firsthand, in Metamorphyx: Embracing Life Experience, Life Change, and Life Purpose. In those pages I highlight a time when a death wish crept into my own life, in the pit of depression, after the loss of my young daughter. Truth be known, God saved me from myself! And I’ve since learned, that even with a seemingly solid faith and supportive friends, desperation can sink your boat!
Several years later, high over the North Atlantic, many of those difficult “God questions” came rushing at me with a vengeance. Returning from a business trip overseas, I was again immersed in How Long, O LORD? Midway through the flight, I laid the book down on my seat and took a stroll through the upper deck of the Boeing 747! Wow! The massive icebergs off the coast of Iceland had my full attention. But upon ambling back to my seat, I saw my book was gone! And to my astonishment, a few steps to the rear, the flight attendant was flipping through its pages!
In the awkward encounter that followed, the flight attendant’s composure quickly gave way to a flood of tears and anguish. A month earlier, she told me, her three-year old son had been kidnapped by her ex-husband. All she knew was he was somewhere in Europe! And then she let loose with a host of blistering questions about God. (Don’t miss ***The Flight Attendant Epilogue*** below).
The phrase, “How Long, O LORD?” appears dozens of times in Scripture, Carson didn’t invent it. It’s been uttered by giants of faith over biblical history. “My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?” cries David under the relentless pursuit of Saul (Psalm 6:3). “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” David again wails in Psalm 13:1. Israel’s great prophet Habakkuk, also cries out under the Babylonian oppression, “How long, O LORD must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2).
What do we do with these piercing questions in desperate circumstances? The short, but frightfully stiff answer is we persevere in faith . . . and trust in the Sovereignty of God and his indisputable character. And we must believe that ultimately, God is working all things for good (Romans 8:28) through a master script that we may never fully understand this side of eternity. Admittedly, that answer is puzzling to many! But to a believer who is hanging onto his/her faith with their fingernails, that counsel and a boatload of prayer, nurtures a persevering faith. “For faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we cannot see,” (Hebrews 11:1-2).
My journey in life, like many of you, has been liberally seasoned with tragedy, failure, and difficult family trials. Here are a few biblical truths and insights that have guided me through tough times.
#1. Our journey of life is lived “outside the Garden.” In Genesis chapter 3, God’s perfect creation is corrupted when Adam and Eve buy into the Serpent’s (Satan’s) lie. God responds by banishing them from the Garden of Eden . . . and that generational legacy sticks with us today. But God has always had a plan of restoration. He declares that in Genesis 3:15 where the future Christ will “crush the head of evil.” Jesus fulfills that promise in Revelation 21:4-5 where Scripture tells us, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away . . . I am making all things new.” Since Genesis chapter 3, this fallen world was never destined to be the future home of faithful believers!
#2. God unconditionally loves his children and is uncompromisingly good. Yet, evil and suffering exist under his Sovereignty. Yes, that can read like an oxymoron . . . but even Jesus, God’s Son, acknowledges that as reality! “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33). Remember always that we worship the living Christ who suffered rejection and a violent death . . . but also a stunning resurrection!! If not so, we Christ followers have nothing on which to base our hope!
#3. In faith we persevere in our trials. But, if you allow your circumstances to define your faith proposition, you will surely end up in a dark place . . . and you will be frustrated with future hope. God’s Word tells us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,“ (Hebrews 12:1-2). That race is always uniquely scripted for you or me. And our circumstances are never beyond God’s knowledge and control—even when every rational thought suggests they are.
#4. God’s timeframe for working things out is seldom ours! As God’s people we regularly default to now, today, and the present! We are impatient people, much to the devastating effect on of our faith. Psalms are a powerful antidote for spiritual impatience. Hang onto “Be still and know that I am God,” (Psalm 46:10)
#5. Never forget that we worship a personal God who responds to prayer. We don’t pray because it’s psychologically soothing or because it functions as an “opiate for the masses” as Karl Marx declared. Carson reminds us that we pray because we have a prayer-answering God. “Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus,” (1 Thes 5:16-18).
Friends, live life with your eyes and hearts focused on Jesus and His return. Start today!
Tom
***The Flight Attendant Epilogue***
My return flight that year was right before Thanksgiving and it seemed right to invite Anna (not her real name) for the holiday meal. At dinner, my wife, Jan, and I prayed with Anna for the safe return of her son . . . and we continued praying with Anna for many months. Providentially, Anna’s ex-husband was eventually apprehended, and her son returned home. We enjoyed a long and warm relationship with Anna and watched her grow in her faith. Anna eventually joined NorthPoint Community Church here in Atlanta.
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