Where is God in our Suffering?
Welcome to my inaugural bi-monthly blog called Turning Setbacks into Comebacks. I hope to combine my thoughts (and those far more brilliant than I) around the topics of suffering and loss, strength and resilience.
In a short 6 months, Saturday, August 24, 2019, our community will host the first ever Pain, Power & Promise Event. Its universal focus is, “Where is God in our Suffering?”
Suffering is everywhere. It’s unavoidable, and its overarching influence often overwhelms. Thousands die every hour from cancer or trauma, and hundreds of thousands learn that their loved ones are suddenly gone (that is comparable to the population of a small city being swept away every day leaving families and friends devastated in the wake).
We are ALL sufferers, or we will be. While the afflicted person may cry out using philosophical questions — “God, why do you allow such things? And where are you in the midst of this pain?”— the real concern is personal survival. How can you survive it? How can you get through it without losing the best parts of yourself? How can you turn your setbacks into comebacks?
The backstory
In 2003, I spoke at a corporate business gathering with several thousand in attendance. When I came off the stage I was emotionally overwhelmed by peoples needs to share their own stories of grief and loss. I was also continually asked if I had a book available. So in my 40s, I started to probe the depths of me and ask myself what “principles” what “resiliencies” did I incorporate over the last two decades of my life to not only survive, but to thrive. I began to look back at the trauma that nearly ended my life at 22 when I broke my neck and became a sit-down person in a stand-up world.
Hence, for every chapter in my book, 19 “pearls” emerged, formed in pain’s nacre. Nacre, you’ll recall, is the substance from which pearls are made and it is strong and resilient and a critical factor when determining a pearls value. Our most valuable life lessons are often formed in pain and God can feel very distant.
Through my Blog and subsequent Vlog, I desire to cultivate hope, healing and inspiration in you. Beginning with chapter 1 in my book, I am going to give you a more personal look at how I formed these resiliencies, a new biblical perspective, an authentic, compassionate format for real communication and practical, time-tested ways to help turn your setbacks into comebacks.
Eventually, I hope to share thoughts from my research and notes concerning a second book in percolating in me: Pain, Power & Promise: 10 Answers to Suffering and the Supposed Goodness of God. Christians have to be able to ask the hard questions and not fear writing or speaking about them because the world is asking too. Too often for the believer in crisis, doubting God and his goodness, he or she is not met with compassion but with judgment.
If you’d like a more interactive experience, my book is available as a companion guide.
Please share my website with anyone else you may know who could benefit from what I’m sharing and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. Check out my original line of 12 Inspirational Notecards collaborated with local artist, Carolyn Rodriguez.
Need an inspirational speaker at your next event, Book me!
“Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day.” Lam. 3:22-23
Thanks for reading. Blessing you today, and everyday, with a new mercy,
Nannette
