Where Is God When It Hurts?

I resisted reading this for a long time, as I have a bit of a phobia about popular Christian paperbacks. I regret this, as this is a rounded, mature and thoughtful discussion of the struggles of Christians who suffer. Real life examples and the development of general principles with Biblical foundations bring hope and encourage faith in the God who loves us and lives with us in the world.

Where is God When It Hurts offers encouraging and strengthening testimonies as well as an understanding look at some of the problems involved in suffering. Philip Yancey makes clear the sustaining grace and hope that are available to us from God in our time of need. He has entered the world of the sufferer to find out what difference it makes to be a Christian there. Is pain God's one great goof? How do we deal with crisis, pain, and suffering? An excellent book in grappling with hard questions and giving no easy answers. In the words of reviewer David Howard: "Easy reading in style, hard reading in concepts, valuable reading in lessons to be learned."

This book offers lear and helpful explanations about the theology of pain, with plenty of examples. The author shows how pain is actually a vital part of the human nervous system, in order to protect us, though acknowledging that chronic pain is not at all the same.

No pat answers are given; different viewpoints are explored, and some exceptional people are interviewed. The question isn't really possible to answer fully; but overall I thought this an encouraging book to read, and have now re-read it twice.

Latest full review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/01/where-is-god-when-it-hurts-philip-y...

Yancey helps us with compassion and clarity to finding an answer when our pain or the pain of others is real and we are left wondering, where is God when it hurts and we need him. He helps us better know how to reach out to someone in pain even when we don't know what to say and shows us how we can learn to accept-without blame, anger or fear-that which we don't understand.

This book was given to me during a tough time in my life. I was wondering if I had what it took to be a Christian leader, or, indeed, to be a leader or a Christian. Where was God, and why was I facing the things that I faced at that time.

This book didn't provide the answers, but it assured me that God knew my circumstances and loved me, and nothing came my way that was out of His control. A very helpful book.

Many suffering people want to love God, but cannot see past their tears, says Philip Yancey. They feel hurt and betrayed. Sadly, the church often responds with more confusion than comfort. This current edition of what is perhaps Yancey's best-known book should speak to anyone for whom life sometimes just doesn't make sense. And it should help equip anyone who wants to reach out to someone in pain but just doesn't know what to say.

Using examples from the Bible and the spiritual experiences of lifetimes, this book frees us from fear and opens new doors of understanding and hope.