Life seems to come at us a million miles an hour. From tragedy, the death of a child, hurricanes to school shootings—pain and suffering have a way of making us realize our humanity and thus our limitations to handle these situations. During these situations, we clamor for answers from a panel of religious experts to help us answer the question, “Why are these things happening?” We demand answers for the purpose of helping us make sense of the insanity going on all around us. Writing to address these issues is my good friend, Dr. Brian Cosby in A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Suffering. This book seeks to simply but clearly present a biblical view of suffering in order to help readers build their lives on the solid foundation of God’s Word.
This book is only six chapters long and explores the source of our suffering, suffering and the sovereignty of God, why does God ordain suffering, how to rightly respond during suffering, finding hope in the midst of suffering, and ministering to suffers. The book ends with suggestions for further reading.
Over the past three years, since my dad was diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia, our family has gone through a lot. We’ve seen my dad go from not taking medication to having to take medication several times a day. Through this, I’ve learned like many who have had parents with dementia or Alzheimer’s that such diseases are debilitating and slowly erode a person’s ability to live and function. A Christian’s Pocket Guide To Suffering is an eminently practical book that will help readers to learn how to deal with suffering and help others to do the same.
Whether you’ve gone through a great deal of suffering or a little suffering—going through seasons of suffering is hard. Christians need to be equipped to handle suffering and this book does that with excellence. Whether you’re wondering, “Why does suffering occur?” or how to help someone who is going through suffering, this book has something for you. I highly recommend this book and believe it will help every Christian to face suffering and walk alongside suffers with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I received this book for free from Christian Focus for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah. He is a writer, editor, and speaker living in beautiful Southern Oregon. Dave is a lover of Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology. He serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries, the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine, the Host and Producer of Equipping You in Grace Podcast, and is a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word. He is the author of The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age (G3 Press, 2022), and Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, or read his newsletter. Dave loves to spend time with his wife, going to movies, eating at a nice restaurant, or going out for a round of golf with a good friend. He is also a voracious reader, in particular of Reformed theology, and the Puritans. You will often find him when he’s not busy with ministry reading a pile of the latest books from a wide variety of Christian publishers. Dave received his M.A.R. and M.Div through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
