Finding God in the midst of our problems

This book entirely dismantles the distorted and stereotypical image of a miracle-working God, from whom we can achieve anything through religious "tricks," to whom we turn as a barter system when we find ourselves in difficulties, expecting Him to solve them. Instead, it presents a clear and realistic image of the sovereign God, the God of Jesus, who is accessed by saying: "Father, if it is your will" (Luke 22:42). Omnipresent, almighty, merciful, good, and loving, yet transcendent; one should not approach Him seeking immediate solutions for personal gain, but by aligning with His will to discover His highest thoughts, plans, and purposes for each individual.

Crabb is not shy when he states that prioritizing solving our problems over seeking God is immoral. This book was not conceived or written with the idea of providing what most people yearn for: magic prayer formulas that allow them to access God, asking to pass an exam without studying, finding a job without sending résumés, or paying the mortgage without leaving their armchair. What it aims to do is help a believer – a real case – conclude that God is still good and trustworthy, even when He did not prevent his wife from committing suicide, his daughter from falling into bulimia and promiscuity, and his son into drug addiction. Its objective is to lead us to understand that God loves us and cares for us through paths, forms, and reasons that go beyond our immediate well-being.

The content is structured into three parts:

I. The importance of finding God. Through examples drawn from his own personal experiences (such as the reactions and feelings caused by the death of his brother in an air accident) and many other experiences from his professional practice as a therapist, he makes the reader understand the vital importance of experiencing God's presence in moments of crisis. But how? he asks: How can a father who has just lost his son feel the Lord's goodness? How can a ruined businessman with a large family rest in what he knows of God? Step by step, and supporting his arguments with real-life cases, he answers these and many other questions, until he leads us to understand that theology, to be enriching, needs to survive the onslaught of doubt; and that only a Christian experience capable of going beyond orthodoxy and the mere theoretical knowledge of biblical truths can lead us, through suffering, to a deeper understanding of Christ, and with it, of Christian hope, love, and joy.

II. Obstacles in discovering God. But acquiring this experience is not easy. Our natural inclination to sin leads us to suspect that God is not as good in practice, in real life, as theory describes Him to us. Although we accept without major problems that God is almighty, we are not fully convinced that He is intrinsically good; for, if He has the capacity to alleviate human suffering, why doesn't He? And the usual divine silence in particularly crucial and difficult moments of our lives reinforces this doubt at a personal level. As long as things go our way, we place our theoretical trust in God, which we consider robust and healthy. But what happens when that trust is subjected to strong shocks? To help the reader understand this reality, he presents various real cases in which, apparently, the numerous promises of divine protection and help that we read in the Bible seem not to have been fulfilled or aligned with the facts. And then what? To this crucial question, he analyzes the answers advocated in both fundamentalist circles: "God is jealous and severe, He corrects and punishes you," which overwhelm the soul with the theological rigor of proud and blind obedience; and those spread by renewal movements: "God is wonderful, and if you are faithful to Him, He heals and prospers you limitlessly," which create an illusory and unreal form of Christian life that secretes the deadly virus of egocentrism. He then explains the motives and reasons why, in his view, God does not respond in the way we expect or desire, and clarifies why He does not let Himself be found when we seek Him: We approach Him with erroneous ideas. And he proposes a third way to immerse ourselves in the pit of the human heart, find hidden treasures in it, and emerge from the mire with a smile.

III. The path to finding God. To contemplate God in His true dimension, our human, corrupt, and fallen logic must be undermined at its root. Only then will we feel attracted to seek the Lord, not as a talisman, but as the supreme good of our lives. And to achieve this requires enough courage from us to do three things: (1) Recognize the impact of our attitudes on our fellow human beings and analyze it objectively; (2) Recognize the wounds and harms that the attitudes of our fellow human beings have caused in us and analyze them objectively; (3) Recognize the meaning and purpose of our attitude toward God and analyze it objectively. The path involves being absolutely honest with ourselves, honest with our fellow human beings, and honest with God. We will only achieve a balanced and realistic vision of God when we are able to develop a personal and unconditional trust in His character; put an end to our futile efforts to try to make life fit our plans; and stop bargaining with Him, demanding specific demonstrations of His goodness.

A necessary book that will do much good. It has served to help thousands of believers in the Anglo-Saxon world, and undoubtedly, it will also do so in the Spanish-speaking world. An extraordinary tool that we make available to leaders, pastors, and Christian counselors; an effective balm for all those going through a crisis of faith.