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Where Is God When It Hurts?, by Philip Yancey
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If there is a loving God, then why is it that … ? You’ve heard that question, perhaps asked it yourself. No matter how you complete it, at its root lies the issue of pain. Does God order our suffering? Does he decree an abusive childhood, orchestrate a jet crash, steer a tornado through a community? Or did he simply wind up the world’s mainspring and now is watching from a distance? In this Gold Medallion Award–winning book, Philip Yancey reveals a God who is neither capricious nor unconcerned. Using examples from the Bible and from his own experiences, Yancey looks at pain—physical, emotional, and spiritual—and helps us understand why we suffer. Where Is God When It Hurts? will speak to those for whom life sometimes just doesn’t make sense. And it will help equip anyone who wants to reach out to someone in pain but just doesn’t know what to say.
- Sales Rank: #27656 in Books
- Brand: HarperCollins Christian Pub.
- Published on: 2002-03-01
- Released on: 2002-02-26
- Format: Deluxe Edition
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.39" h x .79" w x 5.47" l, .24 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 288 pages
Review
'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'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
From the Publisher
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.
From the Author
Philip Yancey serves as editor at Large for Christianity Today magazine. His books The Jesus I Never Knew and What's So Amazing About Grace? were national best-sellers appearing on both the Publisher's Weekly and ECPA lists. Both books also won the Gold Medallion Book of the Year Award. Yancey has written eight Gold Medallion Award-winning books, including Where Is God When it Hurts? Disappointment with God, and The Gift of Pain. He co-edited The Student Bible, which also won a Gold Medallion Award. He and his wife live in Colorado.
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A Valuable Resource for Hurting People - and Those Who Minister to Them
By C. C. I. Fenn
One of the biggest objections that people have to the idea of a loving God, is the reality of pain and suffering in the world. They ask, "How can a loving God allow this or that to happen?"
"Either God is all-powerful," the argument goes, "or he is all-loving. But the state of our world is evidence that he cannot possibly be both."
Or can he be?
Christians have - since the beginning - thought about this important question. It's a question we can't escape. It is all around us. Every time a loved one dies, we're faced with it. Every terminal diagnosis we hear about reminds us of it. And when we turn on the news, there's a near constant stream of reasons to question God's love and power.
And not only is this question all around us - it's incredibly personal. This isn't a subject only for theologians in their ivory towers. The question of suffering will touch every human being on earth, given enough time.
So, where is God in the midst of all this?
That's what Philip Yancey attempts to answer in his classic book Where is God When it Hurts? Originally written in 1977 when Yancey was in his mid-twenties, it went through a major revision in 1990 (I can't speak to any differences between the two versions because I've only read the more recent one). And though he was young when he first put pen to paper, this book is filled with wisdom. Wisdom gained by listening to others.
One of the things I learned fairly early on in my life, was that even if I didn't have wisdom or understanding. Others did. And if I'm willing to listen to their stories, their experiences, and their failures, then I don't have to make the same mistakes they did. I can glean from the wisdom of others. This is how Yancey was able - though young - to write a book that's so seasoned.
As a journalist, Yancey had the opportunity to interview people from all walks of life. Their stories of suffering and persevering make up his case that God is, in fact, both all-loving and all-powerful. So, how does he make this case? Slowly and deliberately.
The book is divided up into five parts that build on one another. He begins with the rather broad question, 'Why is there such a thing as pain?' This is as foundational as you can get. And I can imagine that many people who are suffering - whether from physical or psychological pain - might ask this question: "If God is good, why did he create pain to begin with?"
What follows is a rather clinical discussion - focusing on the biology of pain and how our body processes it. It makes sense to me, in a theoretical way, to begin a book like this. But as I read, I wondered about the person reading this who had just lost their spouse - or who had just received a terminal diagnosis. I almost felt like they might be turned off by this approach. And Yancey acknowledges that, even when we understand the purpose of pain, it doesn't help those who experience it in its chronic form. Again, I get why he started this way. It makes sense because of everything he builds on this foundation. I just wonder how many suffering people started reading Where is God When it Hurts? - in hopes of finding help - but quickly put it down because of the way it began.
As Yancey continues, he tells about Dr. Paul Brand, a doctor who works with lepers in Louisiana. Lepers' pain receptors don't work. They can't experience pain - at least not the physical kind. And it's disastrous for them. They don't know when something is too hot, so they can easily burn themselves. They can break bones, tear tendons, and cut themselves without even realizing it.
Though we might wish we could experience a pain-free life, we wouldn't like it if that wish was granted. We'd end up like old King Midas: realizing that the thing we thought we most wanted was actually the thing that would destroy us.
In part 2, Yancey asks another important question, 'Is pain a message from God?' He acknowledges the places in Scripture where suffering is sent by God but he makes an important distinction. When God sent judgment in the Old Testament, it was always preceded by a warning. In other words, God didn't send plagues or war or famine without first telling people he was going to. God always warned people - in hopes that they would repent.
Unfortunately, too many Christians strip these verses of their context and make proclamations about this or that being 'God's will.' But, we can't know that. God may allow a sickness or a death but that doesn't mean he caused it. Job's story reminds us that we can't know why most suffering takes place. And Yancey makes liberal use of Job's experience to excellent effect.
At the end of this section, Yancey argues that the Christian response to suffering must be just that: a response. If we focus on the cause, we'll never get out of the valley. If we keep asking "Why me?" or "What is God trying to tell me in this?" we'll just dig ourselves deeper into the ground. Instead of focusing on the cause, Yancey encourages us to keep our eyes facing forward. We should reflect on our response to the suffering more than the causes. This is the best way to work through the many emotions that accompany pain.
Part 3 recounts the stories of several suffering people. One chapter is devoted to Brian Sternberg. Another tells about Joni Eareckson Tada. And still another focuses on several Holocaust survivors. Each of these chapters looks at how people get through suffering - even when the suffering doesn't end. These are helpful because they bring much of what Yancey has been discussing down to an even more personal level. It's one thing to say "Focus on your response to pain rather than the cause." It's a completely different thing to hear about men like Christian Reger - a Holocaust survivor who persevered in spite of witnessing the very worst of humanity.
In part 4, Yancey gets practical by examining the question, 'How can we cope with pain?' Here, he looks at two things that will drag us into further pain (fear and helplessness) and two things that have the potential to lift us out of our pain (meaning and hope). These are important chapters though I felt like they'd probably be better for people ministering to others who are suffering rather than the suffering people themselves.
And since I'm on the subject, let me say that I believe this book would serve as a wonderful resource for pastors and for teams devoted to ministering to others. There's a great deal of very practical advice here and Yancey steers us away from some of the common errors that Christians make when interacting with suffering people. In addition, this book includes a group discussion guide in the back that would be perfect for either a ministry team or a support group to work through. I can imagine that it would be very profitable; though I can't speak from experience since I read it alone.
Yancey closes the book with, in my view, the most important part of all: 'How does faith help?' And in particular, he looks at how Christian faith helps. In this section, he notes the importance of the Church being Christ's presence and voice to suffering people. Pain can block out the voice of God. In those moments, the Church needs desperately to step up to the plate.
The end of this book returns to the question posed in the title, Where is God When it Hurts? If we're tempted to ask this question, we would do well to meditate on a picture of the crucifixion.
Jesus, God the Son, suffered alongside us. He entered into this world - a world he made - so that he could fully identify with us - his creatures. And when we suffer, we should remind ourselves that we don't suffer alone. God has suffered with us. He has come into our pain and our sorrow. As John's Gospel says, "Jesus wept" ( John 11:35).
And he weeps with us.
Because this world doesn't work the way he intended. Death and disease were not part of God's good creation. They are intruders and enemies.
And Jesus' resurrection reminds us that they won't have the final say. On Easter, Christ defeated death, once for all. This is the hope that sustains us through all pain and all suffering.
It's the hope that one day God will put all things right. In that day, God "will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4). Yancey points us toward that day.
May we walk to it, through both joy and suffering, with confidence.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
One of the best books on pain and suffering
By Lillian Ammann (Lillie)
One of the best books I've read on pain and suffering.
Yancey begins by showing the importance and benefit of pain. He describes the discovery of Dr. Brand that leprosy does not cause flesh to be destroyed. Rather because people with leprosy feel no pain, they don't recognize when something is happening so they don't prevent the damage to their bodies. In India, people with leprosy had their fingers and toes chewed off by rats. However, they didn't know what happened--they thought their digits were "eaten" by the disease. It wasn't until Dr. Brand observed them constantly that he figured out what was happening. God created the sensation of pain in our bodies to warn us when something is wrong. Dr. Brand tried to create some kind of warning system for people with leprosy and learned that people ignored every type of warning except pain. Pain not only warns us, but it also forces us to stop doing something that harms us or to get help for whatever is going on.
Reminding us of God's response to Job, the author says that God doesn't explain why we individually are suffering in specific situations. God never told Job why he had been through all the trauma--He just asked Job a series of questions pointing out the power of God. Two things lead to pain: 1) God set in motion a set of natural laws in which certain actions/circumstances lead to specific results, and 2) God gave mankind freedom. Pain cannot be avoided unless God changes His creation, which would create chaos and/or turn humans into automatons.
Yancey gives examples of people who have not only survived terrible pain and suffering but actually become better from having gone through their painful experiences. Even when we can't understand why we are suffering and can't stop it, we can actually draw closer to God and inspire and help other people through our pain.
The author then shows that God understands and cares deeply about our pain. Jesus Himself suffered more than we ever will. He knew how hard it would be; He even prayed that there might be another way but accepted the Father's will. During his lifetime, He healed people because He cared about their pain. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us--the Holy Spirit is with us when we suffer even when we don't feel His presence.
Yancey ends the book by telling us that we as the Body of Christ reflect God to people with they suffer. We are called to feed the hungry, care for widows and orphans, respond to natural disasters, comfort the sick and imprisoned--to show God's love to those who are hurting.
Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Ministering to those who hurt
By G. Lee Shelton
I admit that I have several Yancey books, and consider all of them to be excellent. This book is no exception. Yancey has a way of writing that draws the reader into the story. Though very scholarly, he writes so that all are led to understand the point that he is developing. A number of real world situations are described. The reactions of two families that had young athletes suffer live-altering accidents are described in detail to illustrate the difference between acceptance of the result versus the refusal to accept the result. "Where is God when..." is a question that we often ask, actually or subconsciously, and in this book Yancey draws the reader to answer the question in different ways and in different situations. Much material about ministering to hurting people is also developed. A chapter-by-chapter discussion guide is included as the closing section of the book. This guide is written in a manner that can be used for individual study or small group study, and is an excellent resource to build on the message in each chapter. This book is an exceptional resource for the topic.
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