Shattered Dreams: God's Unexpected Path to Joy

With this book Crabb hopes to start a revolution. I am a little suspicious of anyone who actively tries to start a revolution. It seems to me that the people God used to start revolutions in the Bible wanted anything but to start a revolution. It seems that the main thing that qualifies someone to start a revolution is a reluctance to start said revolution. Haivng said that, after revolutionaries are touched by God, they must move out. And maybe that is what has happened here - maybe this is the fruit of years of God's preparaiton of Crabb. This book has some profound insights into the ways of God with man that could revolutionize the way we relate to God. I say "revolutionize" to say that this would change the way we think about God, pray to God and what we expect from God. In saying that, I don't mean to say that our life will suddenly become a bed of roses. Shattered Dreams would make an interesting companion book to Desiring God by John Piper. Crabb says much the same thing that Piper says - our greatest joy is found in God, not from God. It has been several years since I read Desiring God but my recollection is that Piper seeks to foster our satisfaction in God by motivating us to pursue our pleasure in knowing God. Crabb, on the other hand, demonstrates how God fosters satisfaction and pleasure and passion in Him by stripping away all of the lesser pleasures of this earth. IMHO the three most helpful insights that this book offers are: 1. The goal is that God be glorified in us, not that He be useful to us. Crabb says that we have taken the "Holy God of Passionate Wrath," and turned Him into the "Helpful God of Useful Principles." One thought that occurred to me in this regard is that Crabb makes the case that what we need to repent of is our desire for God to make us feel good and give us a sense of well-being. If this is the case, many probably need to re-examine their "salvation experience," since many in our day come to Christ because He has been presented to them as the "useful God." Come to Christ - He is useful to get you out of hell and into heaven, come to Christ, He is useful to give you a happy life, etc., etc.. Could it be that the Christ that many have allegedly "accepted" is not the Christ of the Bible, and could this explain why so many who have allegedly "accepted" Christ fall away? If nothing else, this insight from Crabb should cause all who name the name of Christ to re-examine their hearts to see what kind of "Christ" they are naming. 2. God is committed to bringing us the greatest joy possible, however such joy is only found in Him. Therefore, He allows, and even causes, us to have our most cherished dreams shattered in order that we will quit hoping in them and find our joy in Him. 3. Though we can now claim to be the bride of Christ, we live in the betrothal period of our relationship. The wedding feast of the lamb is yet to come - the relationship has not been consummated yet. Therefore, though we are

Thank you Larry Crabb for your blatant honesty! I read every review written before I purchased this book, and even after reading the negative ones -- I still purchased it. Your honesty was refreshing. You can always tell when someone has walked the same path you have through suffering -- they speak words that touch your heart like the tip of an arrow hitting the bull's eye on a target. I have to concur with the words of another reviewer: I too wanted to put the book down many times because Mr. Crabb had me pegged to the wall. I found solice in this book because I realized once again that I am not alone in my suffering nor my shattered dreams. Many others have walked the same path that I have walked -- and I dare to say that many more will do the same. The Word of God tells us to walk along side of those who are suffering the same things that we have suffered so that we can bring them the same type of comfort that we received also. We can't walk alongside of others unless we are willing to share our lives with others and minister from our pain. Thank you Larry Crabb!

I ordered this book because my dreams and life have been shattered. Though I have been a Christian for over 30 years I have known the pain of a deeply abusive childhood, then the deep desire to find a soulmate, and the shattered dream of a marriage to a good wife who loves me and whom I love, but with whom there is no connection. The intense pain of loneliness and aloneness, and the deeper pain of knowing one who is a soulmate, but who I cannot, will not run to, has broken me. This book did nto take the pain away, and that is the best part. It is real, not empty cotton candy advice from one who has felt no pain. It asks all the quetions I have asked. Why won't God answer, why does he not hear, where is he when I hurt so bad that my whole personality aches with loneliness?There are no easy answers here, only real answers that do not deny the real pain and the real suffering while looking into the eyes of a loving Father who wants you to love him more that any easy fix of your life. He calls us to a higher passion that the passion to be at ease, even when the ease would be good and holy.

"More frequently than untested Christians expect, God removes the one source of joy and meaning that we were counting on to make our lives worth living, and replaces it with nothing." This seed of radical insight, buried in Larry Crabb's previous book, "The Safest Place on Earth," matures into full flower in "Shattered Dreams."The backdrop is Naomi's poignant pilgrimage from bitterness to blessedness, but the substance of his message rises convincingly out of Larry's own encounter with the faithfulness of God. With characteristic clarity, he encourages us to consider that our sufferings, rather than being a sign of God's disfavor, are actually the sole pathway into His presence. In Larry's words, "Only when we discover a desire for Him that is stronger than our desire for relief from pain will we pay the price necessary to find Him.""Shattered Dreams" draws us into a depth of honesty about ourselves and our experience of God that is startling and compelling. For example, most of us struggle to understand how a God who loves us seems at times to be utterly unresponsive to our pain. Larry suggests there are three ways to deal with this. First, we can stop expecting any help from God and simply cope with life as best we can on our own. Or, we can see our anger at God as being sin, and effectively "smother our souls" by attempting to disregard the hurt.Or, option three. "Scream and holler until the terror of life so weighs you down that you discover solid ground beneath your feet. The solid ground is not doctrine. It is not merely truth to believe. It is not recommitment and trying harder to believe and do right. It is Him. It is our awareness of a Christ whose passion to bless is so strong that His restraint becomes not a cause for complaint, but a sacred and appealing mystery."Our society equates suffering with evil. However, if one defines evil as that which contradicts the nature of God, it should be clear that suffering, so integral to the life of Christ and His followers, is in fact among the highest forms of good. As we stop kicking against the goads, and allow our trials to produce their "perfect work," we too, by God's grace, can experience the supernatural passage from human happiness to unspeakable joy. "Shattered Dreams" is a welcome guidebook along that journey.

Dr. Crabb has done it again! With every sucessive book he writes, he only gets better in his understanding of the Christian life. In his most recent book, "Shattered Dreams," he reviews the book of Ruth from the perspective of Naomi. Through his delving into Naomi and his understanding of Naomi's shattered dreams of a better life he allows us to understand why God brings suffering into our lives. Dr. Crabb also allows us to understand the struggles we have with our flesh during our suffering and how God uses those struggles to bring about a deep desire within us to glorify Him and become intimate with Him. If you have ever truly, really struggled with trials and tribulations you thought would never end, I would heartily encourage you to first read his previous book, "the Safest Place on Earth" and then immediately afterwards read "Shattered Dreams." These two books will minister to you like you never thought imaginable. They truly will consol and comfort your soul.