When God Disappoints You

CEBU, Philippines - It happened again, just when you thought everything was finally working out. You failed the class. You lost your job. Your spouse betrayed you. A loved one got sick and died.

But you prayed so hard and served God with your life! And for what? Isn’t God supposed to bless you and protect you from suffering?

Few of us are untouched by disappointment, suffering, and pain. As a result, we may wonder, “Where is God when it hurts? Is He hidden? Silent? Unfair?” 

Such questions may be formlessly lurking in our subconscious, unvoiced—influencing the way we view God, making us feel abandoned. Many of us hesitate to ask these questions aloud for fear of other Christians’ reactions. We might be rebuked for expressing doubt or given a cliché answer, like “have more faith.” Neither response gives comfort to a wounded soul.

Award-winning author and Christianity Today editor-at-large Philip Yancey takes an honest look at the questions that every Christian asks along the journey of faith. 

The book Where Is God When It Hurts? inquires into the doubts that haunt the faithful and faithless alike. Yancey reveals answers that might surprise you. The book is not a collection of lofty, theological solutions detached from the problem of pain. Rather, it is an exploration into the interdependence of life and pain.

Yancey draws from his encounters with people living in the realities of a broken world. His journalistic observations reveal that although pain drives some to cynicism, it also pushes others to step up in life. What makes the difference? No one is in total control of their circumstances, but we do have control over one thing—our response.

Physical pain serves to warn us that something is wrong in our body. In the same way, pain can serve a spiritual purpose. Yancey himself used to picture God as an abusive parent, punishing His children with suffering. But as he faced the issue of pain head on, he discovered that God is not moody and uncaring, but lovingly committed to growing our character. From this perspective, our questions about pain shift from “Why?” into “To what purpose?”

Yancey delved into more issues of faith in Disappointment with God. Using his typical journalist’s inquisitiveness, Yancey looked into the gap between what people expect of God versus what they actually experience. He puts into perspective our expectations of God, asking, “What does it feel like to be God?” By the end of the book, readers have a stronger grasp on faith and a renewed spirit for facing tough challenges.

Where is God When It Hurts? and Disappointment with God are the first works of Yancey’s that I’ve read. I realize now why he is renowned worldwide as a masterful writer and thinker. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Bible lessons I’ve grown up with came alive through Yancey’s fresh insights.

As I write this, I’m also in a season filled with heartache, injustice, betrayal, and pain. My whole world of a little more than 20 years was turned upside down in a single moment, never to return to how it was. Through Yancey’s insights, I found myself starting to sort out the grief and pain, and realizing on a deeper level how God understands.

When, like me, you find yourself wondering if it’s okay to express that God feels far away, remember that Jesus Himself felt the same way. He knows what it’s like to dread facing personal suffering; yet because He decided to trust in a loving God, the rest of us can know hope.

As Yancey put it, “My anger about pain has melted mostly for one reason: I have come to know God. He has given me joy and love and happiness and goodness. They have come in unexpected flashes, in the midst of my confused, imperfect world, but they have been enough to convince me that my God is worthy of trust. Knowing Him is worth all enduring.”

Where is God When it Hurts? and Disappointment with God are published by OMF Literature and available in bookstores nationwide or for online purchase at OMFLit.com. For details, call OMF Literature at (032) 412.5543 or 253.1525, or email [email protected].