Paul Tripp’s Story of Unexpected Suffering

When God Works through Weakness

Four years ago, Paul David Tripp entered the hospital with what he thought was a minor issue and began a journey with pain and suffering for which he felt completely unprepared. Through his weakness, he grappled with his loss of control, wondering what God was doing in his life, and what good could come from his trials.

In his new book Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense, Paul writes:

Because I did not have the power or control to make Mr. Hardship leave, I ran to the place where I have always found wisdom, hope, and rest of heart. I ran to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in so doing, into the arms of my Savior. As I dove into the narrative of the gospel, which is the core message of God’s Word, I realized something profoundly important and wonderfully comforting: I wasn’t unprepared after all. The message of God’s sovereign control over me and my world, the gospel’s honesty about life in this fallen world, the comfort of the right-here, right-now presence and grace of the Savior, and the insight into the spiritual war that rages in my heart had prepared me well for the entrance and presence of this unwelcome stranger.

In the video above, Paul explains how God worked for good through his weakness, proving Christ's grace to be sufficient through his pain.


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