Where is God when we are hurting or in despair? How can we respond faithfully to situations that cause us pain? Where can we find hope even when we feel hopeless?
Pain, despair, and struggle are part of life, and they test our character as God’s people. John Wimmer approaches these challenges to our faith realistically and thoughtfully. Those looking for an easy answer to why despair, pain, and suffering exist will not find it in this book. Wimmer does not dispense platitudes like “Everything happens for a reason.”
Although we can’t always understand or control many things that happen to us, we can choose how we will respond to them. Wimmer encourages us to choose to regard times of difficulty as opportunities for spiritual and personal growth. This is because we are not alone in our suffering, he reminds us—the writers of Psalms and even Jesus felt abandoned by God at times. “God loves and respects us enough to allow us to doubt and question,” Wimmer writes. So rather than diminishing faith, pain and despair can lead to greater trust in God. To endure through such times is a blessing.
This inspiring book offers practical help for moving from pain and despair to the blessing of hope. Wimmer reminds readers that with hope we also have faith—not the false belief that our lives will be pain-free, but true faith that God will lead us through our struggles to more profound depths of spiritual growth and wisdom.
