Today, on renewing your mind, if there is a God who is sovereign over all of life,

over all of death, and over all pain, and over all disease, and over all illness,

and over all sorrow, then what that means is that it is flat out impossible

that any pain could ever be without purpose.

And really, that's what Romans 8.28 is all about, isn't it?

All things work together for good for those who are called according to God's purpose.

As Christians, you and I recognize that, we have a mental ascent to that truth,

but when trials are tragedy strike, embracing the fact that our suffering has a purpose

can be difficult.

So let's discover how we can have a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Here's R.C. Sproul from his series, Surprised by Suffering.

Whenever I encounter this question of suffering, either as a philosophical question

or as a cry of pain from somebody who's in the midst of that suffering,

when they're asking it, the question that I hear in my profession inevitably is the question,

where is God in all of this?

And then the next question is the question, it is the one that every theologian dredges to hear,

it's this question, why?

When I'm afflicted, when you're afflicted when pain intrudes into your life and the threat of death comes,

the first thing that we ask is, why?

Why me? Why has this happened?

How could God allow these things to take place?

And anytime we ask this simple question, why?

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