#368 Why God Allows Suffering (It’s Not Random) | Clay & Jean E. Jones
The Alisa Childers Podcast
Alisa Childers
4.9 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
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Summary
Why does God allow suffering—and how can it actually be used for good?
In this episode, I’m joined by Clay and Jean E. Jones to explore one of the hardest and most personal questions people ask: not just why evil exists, but how God works through real, painful trials. Drawing from their new book How Does God Use Suffering for Our Good?, they share both theological clarity and deeply personal experiences—including miscarriage, infertility, serious illness, and ongoing battles with cancer.
We discuss the difference between evil and suffering, why our expectations of entitlement shape how we process pain, and how an eternal perspective changes everything. Clay and Jeannie also offer practical tools—like keeping a “truth journal”—to help you navigate suffering with clarity and hope.
This conversation is honest, grounded, and deeply practical for anyone trying to make sense of hardship without resorting to shallow answers or empty optimism.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | My cancer is technically incurable. They don't have a known treatment for it. They wanted to get me into some clinical trials. |
| 0:06.0 | And Gene and I were so disappointed that we couldn't get into this clinical trial. |
| 0:12.0 | But now the Lord is keeping the cancer at bay. In fact, the last time I talked to this oncologist who at Cedar Sinai that used to be at |
| 0:21.3 | Harvard, he says, do not get into a clinical trial. |
| 0:24.9 | It would be harmful and they would think it was working. |
| 0:28.8 | And so Gene and I are looking at this and going, wow, there it is again. |
| 0:32.8 | What we thought was really bad and it was really hard that I wasn't going to be able to get |
| 0:36.6 | into a clinical trial that might, might cure my cancer. The Lord kept me from doing that. And so that's the kind of |
| 0:46.3 | thing to just go, thank you, Lord, for delivering me from clinical trial. |
| 1:07.6 | Hey friends, one of the oldest questions and probably the most human question is one that I think we all ask ourselves at one point or another, and that is some version of, |
| 1:11.1 | why does God allow evil? And even more specifically, how does he use our trials and our |
| 1:17.2 | sufferings for our good and for his glory? The Bible says that he turns all things for good |
| 1:23.5 | for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. But sometimes when we are |
| 1:27.9 | walking through a specific trial, it certainly does not feel that way. So we're going to discuss |
| 1:33.3 | all of that and more on today's episode. But I want to let you know that it's brought to you by |
| 1:37.9 | Brave Books, which is a Christian Children's Entertainment Company. You can go to bravebooks.com |
| 1:42.9 | slash Childers and use the code Childers |
| 1:45.0 | for 20% off your order. So on today's show, I have a wonderful couple, Clay Jones and |
| 1:51.6 | Jeannie Jones. Both of them have been on the podcast in the past separately. Clay to talk about his |
| 1:57.0 | book, Why Does God Allow Evil, which is the gold standard for this question, and then |
| 2:01.4 | Jeannie to talk about her various Bible studies, which are all really, really awesome. But together, |
| 2:07.0 | they've written a book called How Does God Use Suffering for Our Good, Living with Hope, |
... |
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