Answers to the problem of pain and tragedy often elude the people of God. In this sensitive book, this editor at Focus on the Family, attempts to answer one of life's toughest questions, but not in the usual way. He says that the real importance of suffering does not lie merely within the individual's ability to analyze his condition and solve his problems. He claims that suffering is God's way of building a close-knit, interdependent community. That community should be the primary way to deal with individual suffering. For those going through difficult circumstances, this book offers a hopeful, scriptural approach that can help you through the storms of life.
In Search of the Silver Lining tackles a potentially depressing--and therefore, unpopular--topic (suffering) with a head-on, realistic approach, sparing the reader any sugar-coated explanations while at the same offering hope to those currently undergoing suffering of their own. Rabbi Kushner wrote on this universal topic--Why Bad Things Happen to Good People--some years ago, but left me feeling that not only was I powerless to overcome my suffering, so was God. In Search of the Silver Lining shows a faithful God at work in the midst of life's inevitable storms, "working all things together for good," as the Scripture in Romans 8 promises. However, the book also acknowledges the possibility that we may not see or understand that good in this life. The "twist" to the book--that God is allowing much of this suffering in order to bring unity among His people, both Jew and Gentile, even as Jesus prayed in John 17--is not only an excellent point but an exciting concept. If I have one criticism of this book it is that it is too short.
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