Q: How are farmers supposed to take comfort in a God that let their entire year of effort burn up?

A: I sympathize with the frustration behind this question. When we put so much work and heart into something we expect it to pay off and work out. Our natural sense of justice tells us that hard work ought to be rewarded and, in a year like this, when reality falls far below our hopes and expectations, it is normal to feel disappointed.

I want to reassure you God’s Word does offer comfort and reassurance to Christians in circumstances like these. The first is that God evaluates our lives from the...