Why All Christians Should Expect Trouble

Is Anyone Exempt from Trouble?

Every Christian can absolutely expect to face trouble, trial, hardship, or suffering. It’s hard to predict what form it will take in your life, but we know when Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble," we should absolutely take him at his word.

Most of us know this from our own experience—the longer you live in this fallen world, the more kinds of trouble you face. But if we ever doubt it, all we need to do is look at the people in Scripture, including great men and women of the faith, even including our Lord himself. All of them went through times of trial and persecution and suffering. It is a normal part of life in this fallen world.

Philip Graham Ryken (DPhil, University of Oxford) is the eighth president of Wheaton College. He preached at Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1995 until his appointment at Wheaton in 2010. Ryken has published more than fifty books, including When Trouble Comes and expository commentaries on Exodus, Ecclesiastes, and Jeremiah. He serves as a board member for the Gospel Coalition and the Lausanne Movement.