"God, Where Were You When...?"

Dr. Pamela Parker

Description

No one is exempt from adversity. In the midst of suffering and tragedy multitudes have cried out to God, "Where are You, don't you care?"

Lacking answers, some people turn against God when bad things happen, blaming Him; others turn to God, trusting Him despite circumstances.

The purpose of this book is to provide the Biblical answer to the question, "God, where were you when...?" and to explain how your pain doesn't have to go to waste, but can become a purpose and make a positive difference in the lives of others!

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 19 septembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456610463
• Langue: English

Extrait

“God, Where Were
You When…?”
 
 
Dr. Pamela Parker
 
 
“God, Where Were You When…?”
Copyright © 2012 Dr. Pamela Parker
 
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Dr. Pamela Parker
[e-mail]
 
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1046-3
 
Editorial Note: Even at the cost of violating grammatical rules, we have chosen not to capitalize the names of satan.
All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any other means, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
 
Table of Contents
 
Introduction
Chapter One: A Valid Question
Chapter Two: God is Good!
Chapter Three: Does God Care?
Chapter Four: Why?
Chapter Five: It’s Not Fair!
Chapter Six: A Guy Named Joe
Chapter Seven: The Power of Our Choices
Chapter Eight: Your Pain Can Turn Into a Purpose!
Chapter Nine: The Ultimate Relationship
Epilogue
 
Introduction
 
After experiencing a lot of trauma and drama at a young age I had a lot of unanswered questions. I spent my teens and most of my twenties very angry at God.
Yet now, as I sit here waiting to go in for a mammogram after discovering a lump in my breast, I do not have questions of God, not even fear…years ago that would not have been the case. Having studied the Bible and living according to it as best I can through the decades I have come to understand many things I questioned from my youth. The why’s and the when’s and the where’s…and while I do not understand and have answers to everything (the Bible says we won’t) I have come to know the character of God, His goodness, His faithfulness and His very personal interest in every aspect of my life…and yours!
This is not a “why” book, while it may touch on some of the “why does God or why doesn’t God” questions, its purpose is to answer the question of “where,” “where was God when….” We can all fill in the “blank” with something to complete the inquiry, and while we do not have the answer to all of the “why’s,” I believe the Bible is very clear in answering the “where’s.”
It is my hope this book will not only provide you with answers to some of your questions, but also bring you comfort, healing and renewed hope, as well as, free you from confusion and anger directed at God.
 
 
Chapter One: A Valid Question
 
“God, where were you when I was sexually abused by a family member as a young child?” That experience was the first memory of my life. “God, where were you when my alcoholic father was beating my mother?” “God, where were you when the aunt that raised me committed suicide?” I could go on and on inserting the many traumas of my life at the end of the question, “God, where were you?” However, since you’re reading this, I’m sure that you have quite a few events and circumstances of your own you can insert.
To ask such a question is understandable, particularly when a person has experienced many traumatic events in life, such as being sexually, physically or emotionally abused, poverty, abandonment, accidents, illnesses and the list just goes on.
The presence of suffering puzzles and even enrages people. At times it’s not even so much the suffering as the senselessness of it that feels unbearable.
In the midst of horrendous circumstance multitudes have cried out to God for help, asking for Him to intervene, to stop what was happening, and yet it wasn't stopped. People ask, “How could a loving God allow the Holocaust, the attack on 9/11/01, children to die of starvation, people to go through life as a quadriplegic, allow events in nature that insurance companies refer to as “acts of God” that bring so much destruction and loss of life?”
In the aftermath of devastation, there are questions: “God where were You? How could You let that happen to me? Why didn't You stop it? What did I do so bad that You would punish me like that? What did I do wrong? What are You trying to tell me? Why did I lose my job, my business, my house, my loved one?” When we’ve make a significant mistake we may even ask, “God, why didn't You stop me?"
Lacking answers, people can feel hurt, confused, angry, betrayed, rejected and abandoned. They want to love God, but they can't see past their tears. Unfortunately, well intentioned people often respond with more confusion than comfort. For example, have you ever heard the unscriptural cliché that when a child dies "God needed another flower in His garden?" There is no such thing in the Bible because that is NOT the character of God. It is not God’s will for people to suffer and He certainly does not orchestrate illness, accidents and trauma to teach us or tell us something, although He will utilize our circumstances to speak to us, not letting them go to waste. (Genesis 50:20)
If you’re a person of faith, it may also be that people have asked you, as they did the Psalmist, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:2-3 NKJV) The transliteration, The Message, reads, “I'm on a diet of tears, tears for breakfast, tears for supper. All day long people knock at my door, pestering, ‘Where is this God of yours?’"
It's alright to ask questions. The Bible records people like you and I asking God questions. In anguish even Jesus asked, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) In other words, “God, where are You?”