After writing one of my first books, Where Is God When It Hurts, I got letters from readers who said something like this: “Thanks for your reflections on physical pain. My situation is different, though. My child has severe disabilities, and I face a constant battle with depression. Prayer doesn’t seem to help my emotional pain. When it comes to God, I feel something like betrayal.”
I settle on three questions, “Is God unfair? Is God silent? Is God hidden?” and scour the Bible methodically, looking for clues.
At the time, the publisher questioned the title, so different from the cheery titles that predominate in Christian bookstores. But I wanted to speak to people who were truly disappointed. (Zondervan, 1988)
Endorsements and Honors
“Few are better than Yancey at providing answers that can soothe a faith that’s almost been shattered.”
Charles R. Swindoll
“I feel nourished by it and my spirits raised by it. It seems to me that you say a great many important things, about as simply and lucidly and honestly as they can be said.”
Frederick Buechner, author of Godric and The Sacred Journey
“Disappointment with God starts with a disclaimer that the book does not address the question of the existence of God: ‘True atheists, do not, I presume, feel disappointed in God. They expect nothing and receive nothing. But those who commit their lives to God, no matter what, instinctively expect something in return’. (Philip Yancey) writes for whose experiences don’t match up to those expectations, and who are asking three questions of God – why he appears so a) unfair, b) silent and c) hidden… The three questions become less about whether God is holding up his end of a bargain, and more about how a broken relationship between creator and creation is restored.”
Daniel Stevens, excerpt from blog post.
1990 Book of the Year- Christianity Today Magazine, US
1990 Book of the Year- Cornerstone Magazine, US
1990 Book of the Year- Nat’l Assoc of Single Adult Leaders, US