How should Christians respond to times of suffering?
Thankfully, we are able to develop means of alleviating human suffering. Our nations are putting vast resources into trying to find an antidote to the virus. That is altogether appropriate and Christ-like because He sought to alleviate suffering. We also know that He didn’t alleviate everybody’s suffering. There is a complexity to the way in which God works that is beyond us, but it is appropriate that we make use of means to alleviate suffering instead of just saying, “God sent and God will get rid of it.” We don’t respond to anything in our lives with that kind of foolish simplicity. The second thing to say, from a biblical point of view, is that all suffering we experience exposes: (1) our frailty, (2) our need of God, (3) the sinfulness of our human condition, and (4) our need for repentance. Think, for example, of what Jesus says in Luke 13 when people come and say: “What about these people that Pilate slaughtered? Were they worse than others? What about those on