Finding Lessons — and Hope — from Tragedy

About The Podcast

This week on The Redeemed Man podcast: a ride home from an ice cream parlor ended in tragedy for Pastor Bryan Koch and his wife Lynn in 2015. Lynn lost her life, and Bryan lost his left leg in an accident with a drunk driver. As Bryan and his three sons worked through their grief, they found comfort in their deep faith and enduring lessons about forgiveness and hope.

Bryan shared some of those lessons and more from his over three decades of pastoral experience in his book, I’m All Right—an example for those who’ve wondered, “God, why me?” in the midst of tragedy.

Show Notes

Additional Resources

I’m All Right: A Journey from Tragedy to Triumph by Bryan Koch with Betsy Fick

Timestamps

0:00—Intro/Bryan’s formative years and faith journey

0:00—The shocking and abrupt end to Bryan’s career in baseball

7:25—Bryan hears the calling to go into ministry

13:49—The 2015 accident that changed Bryan’s life forever

 20:05—The aftermath of the accident and what Bryan learned from it

27:54—What does redemption mean to you?

30:01—How the accident changed Bryan as a pastor and a father

34:30—Appreciating the blessings of a new season of life

Discussion Questions

1. As a minor-league baseball player, Bryan had tried to do the right thing by not calling for a “beanball” pitch against an opposing batter but was overruled—and ended up sustaining a career-ending injury when the other team retaliated by throwing a beanball pitch at him. Has there ever been a time in your life when you did the right thing but still suffered or were punished as a result?
2. After the incident from the previous question, did you let any cynicism creep in, questioning whether there was any value in doing the right thing if you were only going to suffer anyway? How did you come to the decision that it’s still worth making moral, upstanding choices even in an unforgiving world?
3. Answer the question that the chapel leader asked Bryan in college: What would you do with your life if you didn’t have to worry about money—and what’s holding you back from doing it right now? Is it just the money issue, or is there something else?
4. Discuss the verse from Psalms 37 that brought Bryan such comfort in the aftermath of his tragic motorcycle accident—“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Thinking about your life now, are there any “details” you find it hard to understand why the Lord would “delight” in them? What might God be using these frustrations to help you learn or understand?
5. What’s the most challenging thing you’ve ever had to forgive? How long did it take you to offer that forgiveness, and was there anything in particular that prompted you to do so? If you still haven’t offered that forgiveness, what’s the obstacle that you just can’t seem to get over?
6. In times when it’s been difficult for you to grant forgiveness, have you ever stopped to consider all the things that you’ve been forgiven for in your life—by other people, but also by God? Do you feel called upon to offer that same forgiveness?