When God Turned Off the Lights

Cecil Murphey

Description

Every devoted Christian experiences periods of time when God seems far away, when the light of his face seems to have turned away and left his child to fumble in the darkness. During periods of spiritual blackout, when God seems to be silent, we feel as if we've been put on hold. We wait and wait for God to get back on the line. We know it will be wonderful when the light comes back on and drives away the darkness, but we want it now--not later.Award-winning writer Cecil Murphey has journeyed through this darkness three different times during his many years following Christ, and each time was more difficult than the last. He suggests that believers have three choices when the lights go out: (1) give up, (2) examine ourselves for sin or failure, or (3) accept that God's face is hidden with his purpose in mind. In When God Turned Off the Lights, readers will learn how to make the most of their time on hold by pondering the mysteries of God's character, confident that he will turn the lights on once again.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 14 août 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441225481
• Langue: English

Extrait

PRAISE FOR
WHEN GOD TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS
Cecil Murphey has been asking me disturbing questions since I first met him as my professor in 1974. Difficult questions can be life changing. The process from question to answer isn’t always easy. Yet in this process, Cecil discovers divine strategy at work. He reveals the lessons he learned step by step and, in so doing, offers readers hope and encouragement to get through the times of spiritual void in their life. In an answer-driven world, let Cecil guide you with questions.
Dr. Samuel R. Chand
President Emeritus, Beulah Heights University, Atlanta, Georgia
Darkness. Desolation. Why the delay? What happens when the God-who-is-always-there-for-us seemingly can’t be found? If you’ve ever been in a similar place—or maybe you are there right now—this book is for you.
Dr. Tim Clinton
President, American Association of Christian Counselors
The pages of Cecil Murphey’s When God Turned Off the Lights read effortlessly. I was both intrigued and comforted to find a Christian companion who could translate the horrid blackness that we all tackle in our lives into meaningful moments for waiting, solitude, patience and, most of all, healing. He beckons us to stop blaming God for His absence and to travel a journey in the pages of this book that offers an easy-to-follow recipe for Christian renewal and personal betterment. This is a powerful self-help book to carry us all through our dark and despairing times.
Rev. Cathy B. Horton, Esq.
Businesswoman and Priest
If you or a loved one feels you’re inside a dark deep hole, take a brave step and savor what my friend Cecil writes in these pages of hope. New lights will come on. A new hope will arise. You can be surprised: Joy will emerge. I was renewed and blessed; you will be too.
Gregory L. Jantz, Ph. D.
The Center for Counseling and Health Resources, Inc.
Cecil Murphey guides readers on an amazing journey of faith to a destination that represents God’s promise for His expected end.
Casandra Johnson
Minister and Bestselling author
Cecil Murphey has made an exceptional feat with his latest literary project, which provides readers with reassurance of God’s presence, purpose and guidance as they journey through the valley of darkness and into His marvelous light.
Dr. Benson Karanja
President, Beulah Heights University, Atlanta, Georgia
If you’ve ever felt the stunning silence of God and truly want to grow spiritually, this book is for you. Cecil Murphey captures the soul of what it means to feel alone and how to redeem that time. With vulnerability and honesty, he will challenge and motivate you to move ahead in your faith—even in the midst of a season of darkness and pain. And you’ll discover God there.
Ginger Kolbaba
Editor, Today’s Christian Woman magazine
When you read the works of Cecil Murphey, one thing becomes perfectly clear: His only agenda is to illuminate the gospel so that others may better understand their walk of faith. When God Turned Off the Lights is a candid look into the times when believers feel disconnected from God. Murphey ignores what’s taboo and pours out his own personal story of redemption, isolation, revelation and recovery. This book is a gift—the moving true story of growing in faith, even when God is silent.
Bishop Eddie L. Long
Senior Pastor, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Lithonia, Georgia
This is a must-read for every pastor, Christian leader and devoted follower of Jesus who is serious about growing closer to God. Cecil Murphey candidly shares the most confusing and bewildering part of his spiritual journey that many are afraid to talk about. He puts into words what many have experienced during their dark night of the soul with wisdom and insight that was gradually revealed by God along the way.
Dr. John W. Smith
National Director, PastorCare
Cecil Murphey has taught us to trust God during the darkest times. Reading this book will help you to grow spiritually and learn to appreciate the blessing of light.
Dr. Salome Thomas-EL
Author and CEO/Principal, Russell Byers Public Charter School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The writer of Psalms asks this question in a time of despair: “Why Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Ps. 10:1). Is it possible that God would use times of tragedy and spiritual loneliness in our life as an answer to our prayer for “something more”? In When God Turned Off the Lights, Cecil Murphey reveals the lessons he learned, step by step, in his own times of tragedy and spiritual drought, and in so doing offers the reader hope and encouragement to endure and overcome through the trials of life. This book is a candle to light the way for those traversing through the dark night of the soul, giving hope that there is daylight on the other side of the night.
Craig von Buseck
Director of Ministries, CBN.com

2009 Cecil Murphey
Published by Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.revellbooks.com
Revell edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-2548-1
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version ® TNIV ® . Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society ® . Used by permission of International Bible Society ® . All rights requested worldwide.
Other versions used are:
CEV—Contemporary English Version. Copyright © American Bible Society, 1995.
NIV —Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ® . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
NKJV —Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
NLT —Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
RSV —From the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.
This is a revision of Seeking God’s Hidden Face, published by InterVarsity Press (IL: Downers Grove, 2001).
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Don Piper
1. The Lights Go Out
2. God’s Hidden Face
3. When God Isn’t There
4. On Hold
5. Why, God?
6. Something Lost
7. Bitter or Better?
8. Bewildered by the Darkness
9. Complacency
10. Afflictive Providences
11. Secret Sins
12. Old Wounds
13. Protesting Innocence
14. God’s Sleep
15. “You Owe Me”
16. Finding God in Babylon
17. Needed Guilt
18. When God Stares
19. Unhealed Places
20. Beyond Surrender
21. Understanding Silence
22. Shaped by Silence
23. The Light Returns
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’m grateful for the encouragement of my wonderful, longtime agent, Deidre Knight. Thanks to my editor, Steven Lawson, for championing this book. But always, my deepest thanks and appreciation are for Shirley. Always.
FOREWORD
One of the most arresting stories in the Bible is the story of Paul and Silas singing praises at midnight in the stench and stocks of a Philippian prison. Surrounded by hardened criminals and engulfed by pitch-darkness, their chosen response was to sing.
That probably wouldn’t be our response. I know it wouldn’t be mine! What’s your response to a long, dark night when God seems to have turned out the lights on your joy?
In this book, my friend Cec Murphey tackles this question with wit and wisdom. Not only is the subject a challenging one, but it’s also a most relevant one. Those of you holding this book will fall into three categories: (1) you don’t know the Lord personally, though you may have knowledge about Him; (2) you know Him as Savior and are living triumphantly in the light of His life; or (3) you know Him personally but somehow you have lost that joy of a close walk with the Lord. You seem to live in a valley of despair, or as Cec would put it, “a deep forest, the isolated blackness of night.”
Thank God you have picked up this book. It was written for you . It will give you hope even when there are no answers. You may ask with the author of Lamentations how you can reconcile your despair and isolation with a belief in a caring God.
God doesn’t stop caring. With Cec’s unwavering compassion and transparency you’ll rediscover that care in this book.
I know something of that darkness. Cec and I wrote an autobiographical account of my auto accident in 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life. In that book, we wrote about my fatal auto crash, my miraculous return from death, 13 months in a hospital bed, 34 major surgeries and years of rehabilitation. Overarching all those elements was the deep darkness of despair, and a seemingly endless night of isolation, hopelessness and depression. Both that book and this one are written for the express purpose of helping all of us return to living in the light of God’s glory.
We still prefer the light of God’s love to the darkness of God’s apparent absence. In When God Turned Off the Lights, you’ll rejoice in the glory of regaining your intimacy with God. It’s not flipping a switch; it’s a process. Cec will guide you through his journey to a brighter day and help you complete yours.
Until we dwell with God in heaven, we’ll go int