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  WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS?
  by Philip Yancey
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Summary: Faith in a personal God can be a solid foundation for enduring
suffering.

Topics: "Suffering And Pain", "Faith And Trust"
Scripture References: Psalm 34:18

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DESCRIPTION
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Philip Yancey delves into the profound topic of pain, highlighting the
ultimate solution found in God's recreation of the earth. He emphasizes
the sustaining power of faith in the hope that God, as a compassionate
Physician, feels the suffering of every individual. Yancey shares how
his anger towards pain diminished as he experienced God's joy, love, and
goodness, affirming God's trustworthiness. Ultimately, he concludes that
knowing God is invaluable, providing unwavering faith even in the face
of intense suffering.

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CONTENT
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The problem of pain will have no ultimate solution until God recreates
the earth. I am sustained by faith in that great hope. If I did not
truly believe that God is a Physician and not a Sadist, and that he, in
George MacDonald's phrase, "feels in Himself the tortured presence of
every nerve that lacks its repose," I would abandon all attempts to
plumb the mysteries of suffering.

My anger about pain has melted mostly for one reason: I have come to
know God. He has given me joy and love and happmess 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 does that leave me when I stand by a hospital bed the next time a
close friend gets Hodgkin's disease? After all, this search started at a
bedside. It leaves me with faith in a Person, a faith so solid that no
amount of suffering can erode it.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/philip-yancey/where-is-god-when-it-hurts/
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