How God Meets Us in Suffering

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“I don’t understand why all these hard things keep happening, and sometimes I wonder why God doesn’t just fix it. But I have to trust that he is doing something bigger… and one day we’ll see it.”

Vaneetha

When Vaneetha Risner’s infant son died due to a doctor’s error, she felt devoid of purpose and feeling. Hadn’t she suffered enough?

Multiple childhood hospitalizations due to polio, years of being bullied, the heartache of her husband’s unfaithfulness, and losing three babies to miscarriage—wasn’t there a limit to how much pain one could endure?

What happened to the abundant life God promised? And could she survive whatever might come next?

In her new memoir, Walking Through Fire, Vaneetha details her courageous journey toward wholeness amidst a world of brokenness. And to celebrate the release, she hosted a special conversation with friends to talk about their personal experiences with suffering and how God has met them in it. This week on the podcast, Vaneetha is sharing her conversations with Joni Eareckson Tada, Paul David Tripp, Katherine Wolf, and Randy Alcorn, each of whom has walked through fire.  

If you are in the midst of unbearable circumstances today, be encouraged by these conversations. God is with you and he is using your suffering for something bigger than you may be able to see right now. It will not be wasted. When all seems lost, God can truly bring you to a place of abundance.

Read Walking Through Fire

Vaneetha’s memoir of loss and redemption is a story of God’s faithfulness in suffering. She tenderly reminds us that the same God who walked with her through fire is present with each of us in our pain—and offers beautiful purpose and peace.