MY THOUGHTS.  This is Paul David Tripp’s newest book.  And it might be the most important and impactful book, apart from the Bible, you may ever read on suffering.  I can tell you from personal experience, this is a book you will not put down. It is solid, riveting, penetrating, saturated with the Word of God, encouraging, and will greatly help a person build a sound theology of suffering.  Get it, read it, re-read it, and let Dr. Tripp help us understand and grow closer to Christ through the inevitable suffering we encounter in this life. Highly, highly recommend.

Here is a sampler . .

CHAPTER TWO – SUFFERING IS NEVER NEUTRAL.

Here’s what is so important to understand, and what may be the principal contribution of this book: your suffering is more powerfully shaped by what’s in your heart than by what’s in your body or in the world around you. Now, don’t’ misunderstand what I am saying. My suffering was real, the dysfunction in my body was real, the damage to my kidneys is real, the pain I went through  was horribly real, and the weakness that is now my normal life is real. But the way that I experienced all those harsh realities was shaped by the thoughts, desires, dreams, expectations, cravings, fears, and assumptions of my heart  The same is true for you. Your responses to the situations in your life, whether physical, relational, or circumstantial, are always more determined by what is inside you (your heart) than by the things you are facing. This is why people have dramatically different responses to the same difficulties.  Like a stream, your attitudes, choices, reactions, decisions, and responses to whatever you are facing flow out of your heart. Suffering draws out the true thoughts, attitudes, assumptions, and desires of your heart (page 31).

BOOK RECOMMENDATION:  “Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense” by Paul David Tripp, published by Crossway, 210 pages.