Desperate for Hope: Questions We Ask God in Suffering
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“But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’”
Isaiah 43:1-2
Vaneetha Risner has walked through the fire. As a child Vaneetha lived with quadriplegia that resulted from polio. In her early teens she gained the ability to walk and came to Christ; life felt promising and smooth. Then, as an adult, Vaneetha encountered heartbreak: the loss of an infant son, four miscarriages, and an unwanted divorce. She also got diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, which will eventually lead her back to quadriplegia.
Wrestling with God, Vaneetha has learned to lament, trust God, and find hope in Christ amid her hardships.
Having walked through the proverbial fire, Vaneetha now has a passion for helping people find hope in their suffering. She works as a writer, drawing from her experience with faith and suffering. In her books, Bible studies, and articles, Vaneetha aims to encourage readers to lean on Christ in their pain. Her newest Bible study, Desperate for Hope: Questions We Ask God in Suffering, Loss, and Longing, addresses questions that believers often face when suffering strikes. For instance:
If God loves me, how could he let this happen?
What if the worst happens (or has happened)?
Vaneetha wrestled with these questions intensely after her infant so died because of a doctor’s mistake. As Vaneetha shared about her son:
“He was born with a hypoplastic left heart, which means he has half a heart. And he had surgery at birth, and was doing really well after the surgery. But a substitute doctor took him off all his medicine saying he didn’t need it, which wasn’t the case, and he died a few days later, which was really the start of my wrestling with God and thinking, how can this happen to somebody who loves Jesus?”
Grieving her son’s death, Vaneetha turned away from God initially. She was angry and didn’t want to talk to God. Yet, by his Spirit, God drew Vaneetha back to himself and helped her see that her faith needed to deepen and change.
“I recognized that my faith before was one about God’s gifts and not about who God was. And I didn’t really understand what it meant to lament or rely on God,” said Vaneetha.
Looking back, Vaneetha has gratitude that her faith deepened after her son’s death. Her stronger faith sustained her as, six years later, a new set of trials came. Vaneetha recalls:
“I was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, which basically means my arms and legs are getting weaker and I am going backwards based on how much energy I spend. And one day I will be a quadriplegic again. So that’s been a very sobering thing and I’ve learned a lot from Joni through that experience and diagnosis.
And then six years after that diagnosis, my ex-husband came home and told me he was leaving for someone else. So I raised two adolescent daughters as a single parent who were pretty angry at the time, and both walked away from God. And you know, we prayed, and God brought them both back, and taught me a lot about dependence.”
Having grown deeply acquainted with suffering, Vaneetha began to write about how God and her faith provide her hope during her darkest moments and seasons. She has identified three anchors to help make sense of suffering—three P’s, as she calls them:
God’s presence.
God’s purpose in our suffering—even when we can’t see it in the moment.
The promise of heaven—our suffering is temporary.
Vaneetha explains: “As I look at my own suffering, I put it through this lens of the biggest thing God gives us: his presence. God is with us. We sense that he’s there. And the second thing is that our suffering has purpose. It is not meaningless. I learned that from Joni actually, I remember reading her book, “When God Weeps,” and she really talks about God’s purpose in suffering…There is a purpose, but we may not understand it…
And then the last is the promise of heaven, because we will meet Jesus face-to-face, and our suffering will end. And just knowing that suffering is temporary in that sense; even if it looks like it’s going to last our lifetime, one day, everything will be made new.”
While leaning into God’s presence may seem like an obvious way to cope with grief or suffering, Vaneetha acknowledges that it’s not always easily done. Sometimes God feels distant. This begs another question:
How can I know God’s presence when he feels so distant?
Vaneetha addresses this question by identifying the obstacles that can prevent us from experiencing his presence in a meaningful and healing way. Often unprocessed trauma, misconceptions about our own lives, and misconceptions about God can prevent intimacy with God. So Vaneetha recommends leaning on Scripture to replace lies with truth, to grow closer to God, and to soak in the sustaining promises that he gives us.
Vaneetha shared some of the Scriptures she returns to repeatedly in the midst of pain, grief, and suffering:
Psalm 46:1-3: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Matthew 11:28-29: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Psalm 119:25: “I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word.”
If you are in a season of suffering, you are not alone. Like Joni, Vaneetha can attest to the hopeful truth that Christ longs to draw you close to himself. Turn toward him and he will receive you; call out to him and he will answer.
Are You Desperate for Hope?
In Vaneetha’s 7-session study she tackles hard questions and offers a scriptural framework to help you find hope in your pain.
