Beyond Clichés: Suffering, Sovereignty, and Sharing the Gospel

A New Year’s edition of Unbelievable? turned the volume down on the debate and turned the lights up on two women whose faith has been tested and sharpened in the real world. In back-to-back interviews, author Jessica Kelley and apologist Sarah Foster shared stories that sit at the intersection of theology, grief, identity, and mission.

A Theology Tested by the Unthinkable

First up was Jessica Kelley, whose book Lord Willing: Wrestling with God’s Role in My Child’s Death grew out of the most brutal of journeys: losing her four-year-old son, Henry, to an aggressive brain tumour. Jessica described how, long before the crisis hit, she had begun to question what she calls a “blueprint worldview” the idea that every detail of life, including suffering, unfolds according to a meticulous divine plan with a hidden higher good.

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Questioning the “Blueprint” God

For Jessica, that framework made it hard to trust God. She spoke candidly about the “cognitive dissonance” of loving Jesus while feeling wary of a God who might be “snarling or smiling.”

Wrestling with God Before the Storm Hits 

A turning point came through teaching that urged her to read God through Jesus, especially Hebrews 1:3, with its claim that the Son is the exact representation of God’s being. Gradually, she embraced a “warfare” understanding of reality: God is not the author of evil, and suffering is not secretly orchestrated for a purpose, but opposed by a loving God who works to bring life within the constraints of a world where multiple wills operate.

A Theology Tested by the Unthinkable

That theology did not remove the pain, but it reshaped the meaning of it. When Henry’s vague symptoms escalated into a midnight hospital conversation with a neurosurgeon and a devastating diagnosis, Jessica found herself clinging to a God she believed was on her side. After surgery revealed a malignant tumour and limited options, the family chose hospice so Henry could be home. Jessica described eight precious weeks marked by community support, small joys, and hard realism, decorating early for Christmas, watching for signs of improvement, and then recognising the tremor returning.

Read more: 

Why does God allow pain and suffering? A series on the most googled questions

Is the Problem of Suffering the strongest argument against God?

Why so much suffering?

Loving Muslims Without Softening the Gospel

In the second interview, Sarah Foster shifted the focus from personal suffering to public witness. A youth trainer with the Fana Centre for Apologetics, she traced her passion for Christian–Muslim engagement to reading the Qur’an and realising how directly it disputes central Christian claims, especially Jesus’ divinity and crucifixion. Raised in a Christian home, Sarah said her faith was quickly challenged in mainstream school and later grounded through intensive discipleship that welcomed questions and trained her for evangelism.

Teaching Faith That Can Answer Back

Sarah spoke particularly about the black Christian context in London, where some young men are drawn towards Islam or other identity-rooted movements after hearing that Christianity is a “white man’s religion.” She argued that this narrative thrives where history is simplified, and young Christians are left unprepared. Her response is practical: a planned 12-session youth course tackling core questions of truth, Trinity, the historical Jesus, and the crucifixion using accessible tools and training.

Faith Without Illusions, Hope Without Fear

Both conversations landed on a shared conviction: pain and pressure do not have to destroy faith. But they do demand a clearer picture and understanding of who God is and the courage to speak, with both truth and love, in the world as it actually is.

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