Gold Medallion Book Award Winner. Over a million copies sold.
An inspirational classic for more than thirty years, ?Where Is God When It Hurts??honestly explores pain--from physical wounds to emotional and spiritual pain--and sheds new light on God's presence in our suffering.
"How can a loving God allow this to happen? God is either all-loving or all-powerful, but he can't be both."
You've heard that question, and perhaps you've even asked it yourself. When a loved one dies, we receive a terminal diagnosis, or natural disasters strike, people often wonder whether God is the?cause?of suffering and why he doesn't immediately take away the pain or fix the situation. As a result, we become angry at the once-beloved God who betrayed us.
Bestselling author Philip Yancey uses examples from the Bible and from his own experiences to show us how we can learn to accept--without blame, anger, or fear--what we don't understand. Along the way, he answers questions such as:
- Why is there such a thing as pain?
- Is pain a message from God?
- How should we respond to suffering?
- How can we learn to cope with pain?
Where Is God When It Hurts??speaks to everyone who thinks that suffering doesn't make sense. With compassion and clarity, Yancey brings us one step closer to finding an answer when our pain, or the pain of those we love, is real and we are left wondering, ?where is God when it hurts?
"One of the most helpful treatments of the problem of evil that I've ever read. If I were looking around for something to give to individuals who are going through travail or difficulty, this is the book I'd recommend." --Dr. Vernon Grounds, former Chancellor of Denver Seminar
Table of Contents:
Preface...9 1. A Problem That Won t Go Away . . . 15. PART ONE Why Is There Such a Thing as Pain? 2. The Gift Nobody Wants. . . 25 3. Painless Hell . . . 37 4. Agony and Ecstasy . . . 47 PART TWO Is Pain a Message from God? 5. The Groaning Planet . . . 61 6. What Is God Trying to Tell Us? . . . 75 7. Why Are We Here? . . . 87 8. Arms Too Short to Box with God . . . 103 PART THREE How People Respond to Suffering 9. After the Fall . . . 117 10. On My Feet Dancing . . . 131 11. Other Witnesses . . . 143 12. Extreme Cases . . . 153 How Can We Cope with Pain? 13. Frontiers of Recovery . . . 167 14. Fear . . . 175 15. Helplessness . . . 187 16. Meaning . . . 199 17. Hope . . . 211 PART FIVE How Does Faith Help? 18. Seeing for Himself . . . 225 19. The Rest of the Body . . . 239 20. A Whole New World Outside . . . 249 Discussion Guide . . . 263 Sources . . . 281"
Commendation Quotes:
'I know firsthand that pain and paralysis sometimes seem to push away the presence of God. To ask 'Where Is God When It Hurts?' is honest, reasonable even. And thank the Lord, Philip puts our questions into perspective, helping us find out exactly where God really is when we hurt.' -- Joni Eareckson Tada
'I started to read it thinking I was going to read a pleasant little easy-to-read book on the subject of pain; I finished feeling as if I had read a classic. It probes aspects of pain that C. S. Lewis never touches and draws upon the lives of suffering saints from John Donne to Joni Eareckson Tada. But I was most impressed with Philip's honesty and willingness to admit the inadequacy of words to unravel problems that go back to the patriarch Job.' -- William J. Petersen
'I've read everything I can get my hands on about the problems of pain and evil, and this book is the clearest, most practical thing I've read.' -- Keith Miller
'If I expected to find inside a shallow theoretical treatise unworthy of such a profound question, that's not what I found...by the time you get to the end of these chapters your heart is crying out, 'Thank you, God, for pain!'' -- Paul Harvey
'One of the most helpful treatments of the problem of evil that I've ever read...on a level that really speaks to people. If I were looking around for something to give individuals who are going through travail or difficulty, this is the book I'd recommend.' -- Dr. Vernon Grounds
'What a book. A masterpiece. Complete, moving without waxing sentimental. Not the kind of book you'd expect to be unable to put down, but just that.' -- Jerry Jenkins
Philip Yancey previously served as editor-at-large for Christianity Today magazine. He has written thirteen Gold Medallion Award-winning books and won two ECPA Book of the Year awards, for What's So Amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew. Four of his books have sold over one million copies. He lives with his wife in Colorado. Learn more at philipyancey.com.
Zondervan
Pub Date: February 26, 2002
ISBN: 9780310245728
0.74" H x 8.52" L x 5.6" W
288 pages
paperback