Beyond Suffering Bible User’s Guide
Beyond Suffering Bible User’s Guide
The Bible is a treasure for everyone who calls Jesus their Lord and wants to follow him with their whole life, but it is a particular treasure for people whose lives are marked in some way by suffering. On almost every page, believers find comfort, hope, encouragement, and empowerment from the God who loves us enough to reveal himself to us through his precious Word. The Beyond Suffering Bible is a special edition of God’s Word that has hundreds of features to help you as you listen to God in the midst of suffering.
The Beyond Suffering Bible is filled with features that are specifically designed to help readers engage directly with God’s Word as they live lives that are touched by suffering. Each piece has been carefully created to provide readers with valuable information, meaningful encouragement, or challenging application—but always with the goal that they would come to understand themselves, others, and God more deeply as a result of their encounter with God’s Word.
You will find several different kinds of features in the Beyond Suffering Bible:
Book Introductions: Each book of the Bible begins with an introduction, orienting you to the vital information you need to understand the book more fully. But the Beyond Suffering Bible goes beyond a basic book introduction by focusing on key suffering and disability themes that are addressed in each book of the Bible.
Profiles: The truths of the Bible are never just abstract concepts; they are always related to real, embodied people. Scattered throughout the Beyond Suffering Bible, you will find profiles of real people so you can learn about God and yourself through their stories. Some of these are people who are named on the pages of Scripture, but others are contemporary people—some famous, but others just ordinary people with extraordinary things that they can teach us all.
Devotionals: Some verses or passages need more than just a few sentences to tease out what God wants us to learn from them about living beyond suffering. For those passages, you will find full-page devotionals that will help you engage thoughtfully to be blessed or challenged by the message of the Scripture passage.
A Word from Joni: The Beyond Suffering Bible was born out of the passion of the organization Joni Eareckson Tada founded, and it includes dozens of devotional articles written by Joni that reflect her heart for pursuing God in the midst of suffering and are written in her warm and inviting style. Many of these conclude with a prayer you can use as a prompt to respond to God about the things he is teaching you. These devotionals are sure to touch your heart and draw you closer to your Creator through gaining new perspectives on the Scripture verses they are connected with.
Connection Points: The Beyond Suffering Bible is about helping you to connect the Bible to your everyday life—especially where it touches on issues of suffering and disability. So on almost every page you will find “connection points”—brief notes that explain or expand on a verse or passage from the Bible. Think study notes, except these are laser focused on helping you connect specifically with a biblical theology of suffering.
Resources: The front and back of the Beyond Suffering Bible is jam-packed with helpful resources for you to take your learning further and propel you to action. We have created ten guided Bible reading plans that will help you walk through Scripture on key topics related to suffering and disability. A topical index to the feature content will help you quickly find relevant content in book introductions, profiles, devotionals, or connection points arranged by topics. And we have included nine wonderful, informative essays from leading experts that cover everything from a theology of suffering to ethical issues surrounding the sanctity of life to living with chronic pain, and more. Dive into these essays and go deep on these important topics!
The Beyond Suffering Bible is for people who want to understand what it looks like to think and live like a Christian in the midst of suffering.
This Bible is for caregivers, family members, ministers, and others who work with and serve alongside suffering and disabled people. These people will find insight, encouragement, and practical help for understanding what the Bible is saying to them about how to love, serve, and uplift the people God has placed in their lives.
This Bible is for the person with a disability or any suffering person. These people will find opportunities to engage with God, meeting him in the midst of their suffering, learning how to go about living beyond their suffering, and being transformed into a person who can be a bright light for Jesus just as they are.
Really, this Bible is even for ordinary Christians who care about the suffering of others and have questions related to the theology of suffering but don’t know where to turn for answers.
Everyone can benefit from understanding what the Bible has to say about disability, understanding the theology of suffering, and getting a biblical perspective on issues of bioethics and the church’s role in alleviating suffering.