We understand from Scripture that when God saves us, He indwells us with His Holy Spirit and lavishes on us divine love, abundant spiritual blessings, and spiritual power. But He never promises freedom from illness, deprivation, suffering, or the other effects of living in a fallen world. In fact, Scripture guarantees Christians will face trials, opposition, hostility, and even persecution—all for His glory and our good.

While we embrace and rest in those important truths, that doesn’t mean suffering for the Christian isn’t real, hard, and often troubling. When we experience suffering, witness it in a loved one, or consider the vast sea of it all around us, we may find ourselves discouraged and asking difficult questions. We may wonder why God is allowing the suffering, how to respond to it, and how to reconcile His infinite goodness and power with His ordaining circumstances that are unwanted and seem destructive.

With that dilemma in mind, I’m excited to offer you a free copy of my new booklet titled Why Does God Allow So Much Suffering? In it I provide biblical insight into suffering and the problem of evil in the world. This booklet will guide you to understand hardship in a way that does not diminish but rather reinforces your joy and confidence in the Lord’s sovereign control and blessing. If you haven’t already requested your free copy of Why Does God Allow So Much Suffering?, you can do so here.

This booklet will provide biblical insight as to how God sustains all believers through their trials. He has also sustained and expanded faithful ministries like Grace to You. A case in point are Richard and Nancy, a retired couple from Texas that visited our offices for the first time a few weeks ago. They were celebrating their fiftieth anniversary that day and chose to spend part of it touring our facilities. Their story wasn’t what you might expect. They have both been Christians for decades but only recently discovered Grace to You. In 2020 they stumbled across one of my sermons on election while browsing YouTube during the COVID lockdowns. They had never heard that doctrine taught before. That sermon led to others, and they now routinely read our blog and online devotionals, and end each day together listening to a sermon. Finding us was a turning point for them.

During their visit, Richard and Nancy spent a few minutes with our staff to express their gratitude for Grace to You. Their story reminded us that we minister in a big world and the opportunities to find and serve people through mass media are abundant—you could say they are new every day. As the Lord provides for our needs, we pour those resources into existing conduits such as radio, television, print, and digital platforms such as YouTube. Beyond that, we have translated my sermons into other major languages and are on the verge of opening up distribution of those resources on a global scale. I’ll say more about that in a future letter.

For now, we are profoundly grateful to the Lord for friends like Richard and Nancy—and you—who sacrifice to help sustain our efforts. Together we are bringing people verse-by-verse teaching of God’s living Word that convicts, confronts, strengthens, comforts, encourages, and equips. You are true partners in the work through your prayers, encouraging notes, and support. Thank you from all of us at Grace to You.

John MacArthur
Pastor-Teacher