90 Days of God's Goodness: A Review

Suffering.  One thing we all experience and at the same time one thing we never want.  It is a subject that Randy Alcorn has tacked previously in his book If God Is Good - and quite well I might add.  This time around in 90 Days of God's Goodness, Alcorn broaches the subject of suffering in devotional form offering many of the principles he set forth in his previous book.  

It seems odd at first - looking at suffering devotionally, but I found it quite helpful. The fact is that we will never fully know the mind of God when it comes our suffering which is why we need a strong biblical faith.  “When people lose their faith because of suffering,” Alcorn says, “it suggests a weak or nominal faith that didn’t account for or prepare them for evil and suffering. Any faith not based on the truth needs to be lost—the sooner, the better.”

If you’re looking for deeper theological insight into suffering , this is not the book you want.  If you’re looking for comfort and spiritual strength when you feel you have none, look no further. There is Scripture, there is pastoral wisdom, and there is prayer in abundance.  In every instance the reader is brought to the God who can be trusted in all that He does.  God is seen in the fullness of His perfections. “If we see God only in terms of his love or mercy or compassion—as wonderful as those attributes are—we will not worship the true God but an idol of our own imagination. An idol that will, in the end, disappoint us, just as everything that is not God always will.”

“Often we look at suffering from our perspective and forget that God sees another vantage point.”  More often than not our human perspective on suffering leads us into wrong thinking which leads into wrong thinking about God. “A lot of bad theology inevitably surfaces when we face suffering.” 90 Days of God’s Goodness is not bad theology; it is the opposite in fact.  It will help you to “count it all joy.”

Review copy provided by publisher (FTC 16 CFR, part 255)