Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Goodness of God, by Randy Alcorn

The Goodness of God: Assurance of Purpose in the Midst of SufferingAmong Christians, it is common to ask "why me Lord" when going through tough times.  Many who suffer blame God, or resent Him, or in some cases, cease believing in Him.  But what if we were to look deeper, to try to find not only the root cause of much suffering (the fall in the Garden of Eden), but to try to find God's purpose in the suffering we experience.  What if we were to instead, view suffering as a blessing, allowing us to rely for heavily on God?

I thought this book was really really lovely.  I will warn you now, it definitely challenges you to change your way of thinking.  We are very much in the midst of a culture of ME, and this book try to steer our thoughts into a culture of HIM.  It is hard to swallow, that mankind is often at the root of their own suffering, whether it is because of the actions of the one suffering, or because of the actions of the original ones, Adam and Eve, and their decision to sin.

At the heart of this book is that God loves you, and wants great things for you, but because we have the power of choice, we must suffer the consequences.  And while sins are forgiven, their consequences remain; that is a key point that I think many Christians tend to forget.

While the book is not terribly long, nor are the language and concepts difficult to master, this is a book you want to take your time with.  I read it slowly over the course of a couple of weeks, to allow the concepts to really sink in, and to allow me time to process my own reactions to the chapters.  I think this would be an excellent book for a small group study, and I know that many will be as blessed by this book as I was.


I received a review copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

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