An ever increasing number of people are asking this question daily…especially these days. People want to know what God is doing. How can He make a difference in their economic downturn, their job struggles, their relational hardships, even their health issues? Maybe you have the same questions. In his book, Where Is God? Dr. John Townsend tries to help the reader find the answer to this question by addressing three separate aspects of this one question:
- Why does a loving God allow us to experience difficulties?
- How is God active in the middle of our hard times?
- How can I find God?
Having just walked through the loss of an 18 year old who took his own life I have been asked this question too many times to count in the past week. Faith is addressed by Townsend in his book. Referring to the verse in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That is, faith requires darkness, blindness and stumbling around. There are things in our life that don’t just magically get fixed. Some things require faith to believe that we can receive comfort. When you put your trust in God, you do two things: you cast your cares on Him, and you live in His ways. That is how faith operates.
There are times in our lives when we have to be ok with saying, “I don’t know.” We can lose our job, suffer a loss of life, have a crisis in our health and be able to say, “I don’t know why I am going through this, but I am putting my faith in God that He will see me through it.” The truth is that God is always with us, even in the hard times. In the times when we experience loss, hardships, grief – He is there. It is when we can acknowledge this and still get up and move on with life that we begin to see Him active in our lives. It is then that we are able to see Him move in the areas of our lives that we need Him most.
As I worked my way through this book I must admit, I grew to enjoy this book. At the beginning it seemed a bit dry and I longed for a few more examples to draw my interest into the subject. It was the night that I came home after just hearing the news that this young man had taken his life that this book helped me personally. Even as a pastor, I found myself on that night asking, where is God? My faith was not shaken, just questioning why this young man would leave us far too soon. I found peace as I read through this book. I gained a new appreciation for the faith that I have. If you choose to read this book I believe you will as well.
Authors note: I did receive a free copy of this book to read and review. While I am not being paid to review Where is God?, I was given the book with the intents and purposes of writing a review of the book. The fact that I did receive the book free of charge in no way influenced me to write a more forgiving review.