Disappointment With God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud

I got this book over 40 years ago when I was going through a bitter time with God. At that time, I couldn't even read the Bible without feeling like it was yelling at me while in fact, I was yelling at God and shaking my finger at Him. God used this book to bring me back to Him and for over 40 years it has been part of my testimony. Now, I bought it again and I am rereading it as someone else is going through a similar situation and I am refreshing myself to not be swayed into how the world sees God, but how the Bible teaches us to see Him. This book is easy to read and directs you back to scripture. So much wisdom in this book.

I usually read the "one star" reviews first to see where they are coming from but in this case, I simply cannot understand their disappointment in this book at all. I respect their opinions, whether I agree with them or not. However, I do believe they missed the point. I do not have my copy of "Disappointment With God" here in front of me to refer to so please bear with me on this. The most powerful statement in the entire book was made by the man Yancey interviewed that lost his family, then was involved in a car accident and left him with a bad eye and a speech impediment. Yancey asked him something like, "Are you disappointed that God (caused/made/allowed) this to happen to you?" The man thought a second and answered, "Not at all, because God is not a 'God of life' He is a God of faith. Whatever happens to us is just life and God has little to do with it." It was something of this nature. Read this book carefully again to see and understand why. Does this mean Mr. Yancey has more foresight and intuition than all other persons of faith? No. It does not. It simply means Mr. Yancey has offered a viewpoint that makes far more sense than any other viewpoint I have ever heard or read why God does not intervene more than He does on our behalf. Most of us tend to blame God when bad things happen to us; "He could have stopped it!" or "Why did He do this to me?" or "Why did He allow this to happen?" But, He did not stop or prevent these tragedies. Yancey goes on to say that God is so . . . huge, so massive and is the ultimate in intelligence that if He appeared and tried to explain why He did things the way He does, it might be like trying to explain how a Pentium computer works to some Kung San Bushmen. We human beings are NOT the ultimate in intelligence. One of the one star reviewers referred to the book as a 'horror'. The way I see it, Mr. Yancey's viewpoint is as though he is out standing among the multitudes with the rest of us looking in the same direction we are and looking at the same thing. He is not up high on a pulpit preaching 'down' with his vast knowledge to those of us without hope, in despair and the downtrodden. Yancey presents his viewpoint simply as another human being with the same questions any of us might have. To those who have suffered the loss of loved ones and wondered "Where in the world was God when I needed Him?", I would fully recommend this book as it is an eye opener.

I really enjoyed this book. I finished it in a couple of days. It made me recognize, quite frankly that I’m blessed to be in a position where I can’t NOT believe in the existence of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I have had a first hand account of an unexplainable event where I was saved by the Holy Spirit taking over a public defender (lawyer) and using them as a vessel. I won’t go into detail but I literally had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Even the judge had to tell the public defender “that’s enough counselor”. She threw out the case. That public defender didn't even know my name or anything about me. But suddenly in the court room he was my biggest advocate. It was crazy the things he was saying about me to defend me. He acted like a Baptist preacher. When he was done he seemed to not know what he did or said and stormed out the court room without me being able to thank him. Anyways, this book has helped me to see that God really does give a measure of faith to everyone. Some more some less, some not yet. I believe His measure of faith is distributed in how HE chooses to reveal Himself to us. Personally, I don’t wrestle with whether God is real. That was never really an issue for me. I wrestle more-so with ensuring I am in His will and being obedient. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I naively thought all Christians have had their own supernatural experience with God that lead them to be able to NOT deny His power and presence. I was wrong. Just like how not all of us are born into a family that can give us an inheritance or trust fund. Not everyone has the inheritance of undeniable faith in God. Thank you Jesus for the blessing.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It answered lot of my own questions and doubts that I've had for quite some time now. Additionally Philip Yancey does an excellent job of offering clear and sound explanations to the questions and doubts that we have as humans. Also, Yancey is compassionate in his responses as well. I really liked that as the reader. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploring their own doubts and questions regarding the Christian faith.

Original.

Book in excellent condition and arrived quickly

So many share these major questions. Yancey addresses these questions straight on, not an easy thing to do. Being a person who has had many heavy things happen to me, I totally agree with him. There definitely is a God and He loves us deeply and gave His all for us.

What I love about Yancy’s books are that they provide no easy answers. Here is a book about disappointment with God that does not provide pat answers about how not to be disappointed with God. Yancy provides insights, his and others, shares what he see’s the Bible has to say about disappointment with God, and generally shares his thoughts after research and contemplation. This book genuinely helped me think about how I feel about my own disappointment with God. Yancy and I share a worldview so that helped me connect with the book but I believe anyone that struggles with disappointment with God will benefit from hearing his thoughts and research on the subject.

How wonderful to travel through this book where Philip interchangeably uses both depth and simplicity to address the concept of God and the concept of disappointment with equal competency of academics and relational richness. Thank you, Philip.

As with all Mr Yancey's works he says it as it is. You might not always agree with what he says but he certainly puts a different slant on age old questions and makes you think about the flip side.

Really helpful and insightful. A must have in your library. It shades a new light in our relationship with God. You won't be disappointed 😉

I haven't read many of Yancey's books, but every time I do, I wonder why I haven't picked up more of them. His writing style and perception reveal a man who is willing to look into the hard issues of what it means to be a purposeful, passionate follower of Christ. The questions are simple: Is God unfair? Is God silent? Is God hidden? Yancey explores the workings of God in ways we can see, in the life of Job, for instance. He doesn't attempt to arrive at the final, definitive pronouncements we all want (but know we cannot have this side of eternity); to attempt that would be inconclusive and foolhardy. But his journey led me through pertinent issues and gave me relevant food for thought. His handling of those who are disappointed and doubtful reveal understanding and compassion. If Yancey had moralized or pontificated, he would have been at cross purposes with God. I have recommended this book to a number of friends.

This book tackles some of deepest questions head-on. It offers solace to those who might be struggling to find meaning in their suffering. The author is emphatically in his approach