I read this book a while ago, but the one thing that I remember from it is that pain serves as a warning sign to us human beings that something is wrong with this world- of course we all know that. But what exactly is wrong with humanity? That takes us to the core principles of Christianity- God sending His only, beloved Son Jesus to earth to redeem us from our sins, to right all wrongs (including ours) so we can have hope in eternity with Him. Just like when you have a bruise somewhere on your

I believe this book should be an absolute must-read for anyone who professes the Christian faith. A sentence like that usually rings hollow to me, but honestly, there is nothing hollow about this book. I wish I could physically take the words from the pages and permanently implant them in my brain because there is so much truth to them.The main point of the book is about suffering and pain and it attempts to address some of the common questions about the subject - why is there suffering, how do

Yancey never gives easy answers to tough questions. He never glosses over what you are feeling. This book was a powerful book about the age old question "How can a loving God allow this?"Yancey gives both practical and biblical answers and advice a style which has bad him on of my parents favorite authors. If you are looking for an honest look at this hard question, pick up this book.

This is one of the most powerful books I have been impacted by. I read it shortly after experiencing one of the most devastating losses in my life. I recommend this for anybody who has been, or is, hurting for some interesting perspectives on God's role/place in our lives.

This book is a gem! Yancey does a great job of using real life examples to show the true purpose and benefit of physical pain and emotional suffering. I think this book could be helpful for anyone going through physical, spiritual or emotional pain or for those that want to support someone in pain. Well researched, well written and well done!

I wouldn't call myself Christian, but some Christian philosophy books are okay (I accept all sorts of philosophies about the higher power). In other words, even though it's geared for Christians, this book will not pitch to you - it's a book that you can read and still believe in evolution.Where Is God When It Hurts is primarily directed at people who suffer, but it's also for people who are close to those who suffer (we're mostly talking physical illness here). It challenges some common (and re...

Great book whether you’re in a painful place or not, we all will experience pain caused by different circumstances in his life.

I suppose I am officially a Yancey fan since I have read several of his books and seem to like them all. This one talked a lot more about pain in the beginning. In fact, I got a science lesson on what parts of the body can endure the most pain and why, which was quite fascinating. He also went into detail about leprosy by giving detailed accounts by those who suffer from the affliction. I didn't know much about the disease, so it too was interesting to learn more about. Eventually, he discussed

Ugh. Watching an intelligent man take a disturbing, unappreciated trait (what is pain, how does it work), discuss the benefits it holds (it's a warning system, look at all the ills when it breaks down)...then tie himself in knots trying to fit it into a narrative where the explanations already demonstrated have done their job and try to ascribe an author to it (but what does God MEAN by pain?)Profoundly sad, particularly as when he weans himself off the dogma, Yancey actually give some decent in...

Sorry, I appear to have moved back onto theology books but this is a fantastic book of theology. It has won the Gold Medallion award and has been a best-seller for over fifty years, and this edition is the revised edition by the author so he could explore issues that had arisen during this time. Philip Yancey uses this book as an opportunity to discuss pain - physical, emotional and spiritual - in such a way as to help both the reader and himself to understand why we suffer from pain and how we

Do you like classical music? I do. A couple of years ago, I was blessed enough to be able to attend Jose Carreras’ final concert -- my friend who was related to the concert gave me a ticket. It was a cold and rainy night. Limousines and dressed up people showed up quietly, like attending a serious ceremony. In the concert hall, it felt like right before a worship service at a Presbyterian Church because everyone was very quiet and solemnly expecting the Master’s appearance. When I opened the pro...

I might be more detailed in this later so there might be a modification to this, but this really was a good book. I don't even recall who told me about this one (I'll have to look on Twitter), but I didn't know what to expect. And I didn't know a lot about things that the book presented to me as well (for example, I didn't know all of what it described about what leprosy does to a person)...but this one was a refreshing read. I like how Mr. Yancey seems to not be trying to answer where the Bible...

When I picked up this book, I was at the lowest point in my life I could possibly be. I was struggling to deal with the loss of my mother and father, dealing with the loss of my innocence that was so violently ripped away from me, I was a single mother who had just gone through a string of bad relationships and I had lost my faith in God. I wondered why God had abandon me, why He took my parents from me and why I had experienced so many horrible things in my life. I thought I was being punished

Yancey makes some good points: we can't function very well in the world, as creatures, without pain, which warns us of injury or illness when it's physical, and helps bring us together in a caring community when it's emotional. We can't fully understand God's plans for us, and how pain, suffering, and distress are part of soul-making. Sometimes our ideas of healing and what should happen aren't what God has in mind for us. God suffers for us now, suffered for us in the person of Jesus, and walks...

Book Review: Where is God When It HurtsI've been trying to work through an extremely tall stack of books lately In the past six months, I think I've completed one full book. And it was a novel. I've been in a season in my life where there has been little to no routine and I've not been able to focus on completing one book all the way through unless the book has been incredibly compelling. I've started at least twenty books in the past six months. That is probably a low estimate. I've tried theol...

This book was written more than 40 years ago and is still in print. It's nearly impossible for a book to do that, and is an indication of its importance.I saw somewhere that this is the revised edition. My copy is the original edition, though I expect the core of the book to be much the same as this edition.The book, while not long, has three sections: 1) Why is there such a thing as pain? 2) How people respond to pain, and 3) How can we cope with pain?The first section is the most surprising an...

This is my 4th Yancey book, and I think it's my favorite. He really wrestles with the question that is also the title of the book. There are no straightforward, one-size-fits-all answers. If God did not directly address that when he spoke to Job, we should be extremely cautious in putting words in God's mouth. It didn't serve Job's friends well to do that. Yancey addresses the problem of pain in the physical sense as well as emotional (i.e. grief from loss of loved one, failed relationship, etc....

I was like, "FINALLY! Someone with real feelings." Some people act like super Christians. It was refreshing to see a person write from the perspective of a questioning and afraid Christian. It really is okay to wonder sometimes.

A theological exploration of pain14 January 2014 Disappointment with God seemed to have covered a lot of ground that this book ended up covering and I noted that at the beginning of the other book Yancey had made a comment that he had decided to write Disappointment with God to tackle the issue of, for want of a better word, bad luck in general beyond the issue of physical pain. However as I was reading this book I began to realise that you cannot actually separate the two, and whether it be phy...