How Does God Use Suffering for Our Good?: Living with Hope While Making Sense of Life

by Clay Jones, Jean E. Jones

Biblical Hope During Life’s Greatest Trials

One thing is certain in this We will all experience hardship and pain. But with God as our caring Father, we can also be certain the trials we face are not simply mysteries beyond understanding, but opportunities to be shaped for a glory beyond imagination.

When we learn why God allows suffering, our pain is given meaning. How Does God Use Suffering for Our Good? is a powerful and encouraging look at how God can use life’s difficulties for His grand plans for us. You will discover how Scripture offers far more than a “trust and wait” response to enduring life’s trials—and how you can live with purpose and hope even as you suffer today.

Drawing on their own times of anguish and hardship, Clay and Jean guide you through seven specific, practical, and life-tested truths that can help you experience victory amid afflictions. These timeless truths from Scripture will help calm your heart, equip you to persevere, and help you focus on the glorious inheritance that awaits you in heaven.

Genres: Christian, Religion

224 pages, Paperback

Published January 13, 2026

About the author

Librarian Note: This profile contains more than one author. Those listed below have multiple books listed on GoodReads.

Clay Jones (2 spaces): political cartoonist
Clay Jones (3 spaces): gardening

Reviews

[Tracy Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

find hope even in suffering. trust and wait, focus on the inheritance that waits in heaven.

[Zachary Games · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book for a sermon series on suffering. It was recommended through a podcast I listen to and came with high marks. I will say that the book offers some great biblical advice, encouragement, and personal stories from both Clay and Jean about real suffering and how they got through it. Both authors have been through tremendous suffering that has led them to trust God more fully and be able to see (as the title indicates) how God can use suffering for our good.

I have the book 3 stars because while it is encouraging and helpful at times, it is also incredibly redundant and at many points their interpretation of some biblical passages is downright wrong. Many times they apply scripture correctly, and then at other times they are so wildly off it shocks me. For example, Clay applies a passage in Genesis about Abram setting out sacrifices before God and birds of prey coming to eat the sacrifices to mean “even in our most spiritual moments, hardship happens (page 100).” This over spiritualizing of scripture is what can get us into trouble (it’s like the pastors who use the David and Goliath story to talk about slaying our spiritual giants). This is surprising because both Clay and Jean have formal training in biblical interpretation. I also found the writing to be sporadic at times, with both Clay and Jean interjecting small stories or anecdotes that don’t seem to have any relation to anything going on in the present paragraph. Clay and Jean tell the same stories over and over again, apply the same points, but give the chapters different names.

While I’d recommend this book for encouragement in Christ to get through suffering, there are far better books on the subject.

[Francis Szarejko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best book I've read about the common human experience of suffering. Writing from his own experience, Jones applies a depth of biblical knowledge to help the reader understand how suffering hones our faith in the Triune God.

[Lee L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good author -- both he and his wife. Honest depiction of his life and how suffering is true for everyone but God is bigger than what we go through. Please read all his books!