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When God Weeps Kit: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty

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If God Is Loving, Why Is There Suffering?When suffering touches our lives, the questions it raises suddenly demand answers. It’s one thing to break a leg and wait for it to heal. It’s another to experience the kind of wrenching pain that can disable our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, and our faith. If God is there and he’s good, how can such suffering exist—and what purpose can it possibly serve?After almost forty years in a wheelchair, Joni Eareckson Tada’s intimate experience with suffering gives her a special understanding of God’s intentions for people in their pain. In this ZondervanGroupware™, she and lifelong friend Steven Estes guide you and your group beyond glib answers. Through six powerful group sessions that include video clips and penetrating discussions, they share glimpses into Joni’s personal journey as well as the struggles—and triumphs—of children with disabilities, a woman who lost two sons and her marriage, a friend with a debilitating disease. When God Weeps will help your group discover a God who is big enough to understand suffering, wise enough to allow it, and powerful enough to use it for a greater good than any of us can ever imagine.When God Weeps A Good God in a Suffering World 2. What Can Suffering Accomplish in Our Lives? 3. How We Respond to Suffering Matters 4. Jesus Gives Us Hope 5. Finding Contentment 6. A Look Toward Heaven

First published September 21, 1997

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About the author

Joni Eareckson Tada

303 books474 followers
Previously published as Joni Eareckson

Joni Eareckson Tada is CEO of Joni and Friends, an organization that accelerates Christian outreach in the disability community. Joni and Friends provides practical support and spiritual help to special-needs families worldwide, and equips thousands of churches in developing disability ministry. Joni is the author of numerous bestselling books, including When God Weeps, Diamonds in the Dust, A Step Further, winner of the Gold Medallion Award, and her latest A Spectacle of Glory. Joni and her husband, Ken, have been married for 35 years. For more information on Joni and Friends, visit www.joniandfriends.org

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5 stars
372 (60%)
4 stars
163 (26%)
3 stars
67 (10%)
2 stars
14 (2%)
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3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
Profile Image for Mollie Reads.
43 reviews517 followers
January 1, 2019
The best book on suffering and God's purposes in suffering I have ever read.
Profile Image for Claudia.
19 reviews
October 3, 2021
Wow. Absolutely magnificent!

This book contains everything I have needed to hear.
What an immense comfort it has been to me. I will be returning to it often.
It's a short book but it's packed with truth from the scriptures that will be like a balm to your soul.
Profile Image for Chezka Vidal.
6 reviews2 followers
April 15, 2013
The most powerful book on suffering. I thought I knew about suffering. I thought i've heard about it enough. Until I read in this book how faithful Christians suffered. Is there sickness in your family that seems utterly hopeless? Are you suffering from an illness from birth or from an accident that is beyond cure? If there's only 1 book in your life that you should read, it should be this. "Written" by no other than Joni Eareckson Tada who is quadriplegic herself. And i say "written" coz she has to use someone else's hands to get her words typewritten.

If you have a heart for those who are sick, this book is for you too. Powerful. Insightful. It gives you some answers to your toughest questions when you are suffering.
Profile Image for Jessica Cox.
8 reviews2 followers
April 10, 2013
This book helped me through my own struggles of understanding why God had allowed me to have a chronic medical condition. When I was diagnosed, as a teenager, I was utterly alone in dealing with it. This book helped me in so many ways. While reading this book, I didn't feel completely alone in my circumstances. And it helped answer questions no one else in my life could.
Profile Image for Anna.
9 reviews3 followers
January 5, 2019
Such a powerful look at suffering. It's not sentimental, nor is it wooden. It's raw, realistic, practical, rooted in lots of Scripture, joy-filled and hope-filled. Suffering is sad. It's painful. It's wrong. But it's not hopeless. And it's not without purpose. In fact, there is more purpose than we realize. Whether you are currently suffering, or know someone who is, it's a must-read.
March 11, 2016
One of the best books I've ever read. Too bad it was from the library or I would have highlighted and written all over it. Will definitely be buying a copy.
Profile Image for Dav.
882 reviews7 followers
July 13, 2017
Overview

"If God is loving, why is there suffering?

When bad things happen, who’s behind them--God or the devil?

When suffering touches our lives, questions like these suddenly demand an answer. From our perspective, suffering doesn’t make sense, especially when we believe in a loving and just God. After more than thirty years in a wheelchair, Joni Eareckson Tada’s intimate experience with suffering gives her a special understanding of God’s intentions for us in our pain.

'When God Weeps' goes beyond glib answers that fail us in our time of deepest need. Instead, with firmness and compassion, it reveals a God big enough to understand our suffering, wise enough to allow it—and powerful enough to use it for a greater good than we can ever imagine." B&N/edited

"A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson Tada a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Today, she is an internationally known mouth artist, a talented vocalist, a radio host, an author of 17 books and an advocate for disabled persons worldwide. ...how she struggled to accept God’s design in her paralysis." Joni and Friends

It's a powerful book on God's governance in all aspects of our lives, not just suffering. Well written by Joni, a once energetic youth confined to a wheelchair. She has a personal understanding of suffering.
Profile Image for Mary Lee.
353 reviews
Read
September 3, 2023
It's easy to trust God when things are going our way and the world makes sense. But when suffering strikes--especially seemingly senseless suffering--we are filled with doubt and stunned by events spiraling beyond our control.

In the midst of suffering, we often question the very foundation of our faith--our belief in the God who says he loves us. Since our trust and obedience rest on God's character, the questions that life's tragedies force us to face are difficult, even frightening:

Who is God?
Can he really be trusted?
What are his purposes in the face of suffering?
If he can stop suffering, why doesn't he?
Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman who has lived in a wheelchair for more than thirty years, and Steve Estes, a pastor and one of Joni's closest friends, explore the answers. When God Weeps is not so much a book about suffering as it is about God. It tackles tough questions about heaven and hell, horrors and hardships, and why God allows suffering in this life.
Profile Image for Lynn Graham.
13 reviews1 follower
January 15, 2021
Honestly, this book. I read her first one many years ago and was recently reminded she had a follow up. A wonderful, personal viewpoints on suffering. But in all pointing to the fact that God is Good even in the midst of our suffering. Joni is honest and raw in her approach, although unlike most authors that tackle this topic she goes down the personal experience root, using many real life examples throughout to exemplify her points. The questions she explores are hard, straight to the matter and tackle the big "why me" questions we throw at God in the midst of trials and such. A refreshing take on such a hard topic, Grab the tissues and dive into this.
Profile Image for Kait.
9 reviews
June 17, 2021
A gentle, tender, yet thorough and honest look at human suffering and a sovereign, compassionate God. Highly recommend, though not always an easy read. The book is careful to tell readers who are in throbbing aches of present, heavy suffering to shelve the book for awhile and take time to cry out to the Lord before grappling with the book's chapters. I consider this to be wise counsel. There is a time to weep and a time to try to understand and develop a theology of suffering. Sometimes they aren't the same time, especially when the suffering is especially unbearable.
Profile Image for Alicia Griggs.
350 reviews
June 12, 2023
I didn't enjoy this book and I really can't understand the hype. Recommended to me to help my grieving process, I started the book open-minded and hopeful, however, I didn't like the tone of the content and didn't find it helpful or comforting in the slightest. I also disagree with this theological perspective- I believe that God is love and the God depicted in this book doesn't aligned with this belief. I'm glad it helps and comforts many, but I can't see the value in it. I much prefer reading Julian of Norwich.
Profile Image for Nancy Walker.
Author 3 books6 followers
April 17, 2019
Joni is a quadriplegic. She penned this story along with her lifelong friend Steve Estes. An incredible story about suffering and God's compassion. Insightful, Inspirational, wise, thoughtful, and full of mercy. Not a page-turner. There is so much meat to chew on and I found myself rereading passages again and again. I highly recommend this book for those who suffer and blindsided. Pretty much covers most of humanity.
Profile Image for Jolene.
28 reviews1 follower
May 31, 2023
I listened to the audio version and was very disappointed that it is an abridged version. However, it is read by the author and Joni is an excellent and captivating narrator. The book is an excellent mixture of story and theology. I will someday read the print version as it was recommended as an excellent reference book. Joni’s personal experiences of suffering and her reliance on God and His attributes to help her to endure and still praise him are inspirational. Excellent book.
Profile Image for Paige.
5 reviews2 followers
January 19, 2019
Joni has challenged my faith and made me question my view of God and suffering through scripture. I pray that if suffering knocks on my door, I would choose to pursue and grow closer to Him rather than run the opposite direction in self pity. The most impactful quote from this book was "I would rather be in a wheel chair and have Christ than any amount of walking without Him."
368 reviews2 followers
August 27, 2022
No one else could write a book this straightforward, with actual answers to why God could cause suffering and still be loving, than Joni Eareckson Tada. Theologically sound, tough but kind, she writes straight from the heart. A bit verbose and repetitive, I docked it a star for writing style but there is nothing like the content of this book. It's practical and theological.
17 reviews
March 7, 2018
Joni really knows about suffering and lost dreams. She speaks from experience and shared her experiences as well as others.
Profile Image for Cyndy.
190 reviews
March 21, 2019
This book speaks directly to God's purpose in our suffering. I found it encouraging and uplifting. As the author said, "Suffering keeps swelling our feet so our earthly shoes won't fit."
Profile Image for Robert Nash.
Author 2 books10 followers
May 19, 2020
This is an amazing book. I highly recommend reading it: moving stories, tight theology, colorful word selection, readable.
Profile Image for Rye.
7 reviews
July 2, 2022
Beautiful and insightful. An easy read, manageable for someone in deep grief. This book truly changed my perspective on suffering. A must read for anyone and everyone.
Profile Image for Ray.
196 reviews2 followers
January 18, 2008
Joni Eareckson Tada's insights on suffering have been forged during more than thirty years in a wheelchair. In When God Weeps she and her longtime friend Pastor Steve Estes explore questions of theodicy beyond the superficial. They proclaim faith in a God `big enough to understand our suffering, wise enough to allow it." This is not your superficial "God wants everyone to be healthy right now" approach!

Their approach is radically God-centered. Rather than starting with man's concerns and then either apologizing for God (like open theism) or accusing him (like skepticism), they attempt to start with who God is. The first section of the book looks at God's gracious self-revelation in Christ. With infectious joy they attempt to describe the Trinitarian God's attributes: his beauty, his goodness, his sovereignty. Their point is that God is contented forever in his own glory. They paint a Biblical picture of a God of infinite passion and love. "Our call to suffer comes from a God tender beyond description" (p. 40).

And this God is himself a sacrificial, suffering servant. "The Trinity planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished..... This is who asks us to trust him when he calls on us to suffer" (p.54). God hates suffering (p. 57), and yet, "(t)he Bible could be no clearer. God does ask his children of every nation... to suffer" (p. 65). Alluding to C.S. Lewis' famous line from the Narnia series, they conclude: "the sovereign God who holds your days in his hand is not safe. He's anything but. He's the King, I tell you. But he's good" (p. 93).

Having explored God's nature and character in very personal terms, the authors next turn to described God's actions and works in Section II (pp.97f.). As Tada learned from long, painful experience, God's Word tells us that he uses the weak of this world to accomplish his purposes, to his glory and their (our) special honor (p.113; cf. I Cor. 12:22). In this we can have fellowship in his suffering. They note, "By itself, suffering does no good. But when we see it as the thing between God and us, it has meaning" (p.135). The Cross is the key.
Profile Image for Katie Ortiz.
36 reviews2 followers
Read
May 7, 2019
Have you or a loved one experienced suffering in a way which yields difficult questions such as, “If God is loving, why is there suffering?  What’s the difference between permitting something and ordaining it? When bad things happen, is God in cahoots with the Devil? How can He expect me to be happy this way?” (Tada 13).
Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes strive to provide answers perhaps not to our questions, but rather to why suffering is a vital piece of the Christia walk.  Tada and Estes approach the topic of suffering and how God also suffers alongside us as backed up in the Bible and with various stories which will tug on the heart strings.  The book is separated into several parts including sections: Who is This God?, What is He Up To?, and How Can I Hang On? The book slowly and delicately approaches topics for both the believer and those searching in a way which is encouraging and convicting, but welcoming, as well.  When God Weeps is a quick read for those who are suffering and those consoling others who are suffering.  
To run to the loving arms of the Savior amongst suffering is difficult, yet beautiful.  There is a reason behind the struggles and strive we face, but it is a matter of how we wait and endure these trials which makes much of a difference.  We may not receive answers to all of our questions, but there is hope God the Father is alongside us, hears our prayers, and for believers, there is the hope of heaven.  Our sufferings are merely momentary, but everlasting life will come. 
For the non-believer and those searching, Tada and Eastes bring hope to repent of your sins, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus.  
“His plans are being accomplished despite, yes, even through, these tragedies.  The are tragedies. He considers them so. He loathes the wickedness and misery and destruction itself- but He has determined to steer what He hates to accomplish what He loves” (Estes 69).
The world tries to tell us messages of blending in with the world and worldviews, but Christians must stand strong in their convictions based upon a Christian worldview and the Word- even during moments of suffering.
Profile Image for Camille Baird.
253 reviews4 followers
September 19, 2013
This book is writen by two long term friends, an evangelical minister/pastor and an equally religious and well versed friend, paralyzed and in a wheelchair from a teenage diving accident.
It written about suffering, why we have it, how to get through it, how to help others, what to think about it, examples in the Bible, people who have suffered and how they handled it and how we can relieve the suffering of others.
You can tell by the depth of the book that they have put considerable effort and research into the book and are scripturally fluent. My main objection with the book are the numerous editing errors, gramatical errors, inconsistent quotation references, use of multiple Biblical translations and basic construction of the book which should have been taken care of by the editor.
I feel like this was a sermon that was delivered unedited to the publisher and while certain comments or manners of speaking translate over well verbally, they do not always read well. I really struggled with some of the passages and some of the a bit too informal treatment of what I thought could have been a subject that should have been treated with a little more dignity and reverence in many instances. On occasion you can modernize scripture into present day and it works out ok, but most people are familiar with KJV passages to understand them, especially when you give good explanations or examples. I felt that there were a few flippant moments.
Overlooking the editing and style issues, this book was a good journey for me personally as I referenced my own Bible (KJV) for consistent scriptures that were discussed and I learned on my own. I guess if you want to gain an understanding of a principle and you have some information, you can come to an understanding on your own.... which is probably the best possible way of learning, self discovery.
713 reviews8 followers
December 22, 2014
Having experienced serious illness and family loss to miscarriage, suffering drew me to this book. Joni has lived 40 years in a wheelchair as a result of a diving accident in which she broke her neck. Her life speaks loudly to the questions related to suffering. As a result, when she speaks, her platform is her wheelchair.

When suffering touches our lives, questions like the following suddenly demand an answer. Too often suffering makes no sense to us, to me. If God is a good God, why does He allow suffering? Is suffering God’s will for us? Is God sovereign? Does He cause or merely allow suffering? For what purpose? Excellent theological foundation—Biblically based--in responding to the above questions. The appendices are outstanding—Scripture on God’s Hand in our suffering, Scripture on God’s purpose in our suffering, Can God experience grief?

Eareckson concludes because Christ became a man, God knows what pain is, knows what death is; He weeps with us and for us.

Worthy of coming back to again and again. No platitudes or trite answers here--real wrestling with the primary issues of life.
February 10, 2017
Most of us do not wish to discuss or to think about suffering and whether it is a requirement in our spiritual life. This book deals with the difficult questions Christians confront when faced with all the trauma that compose our existence. Tada provides excellent Scriptural proofs for what she presents concerning the necessity of Christians to suffer and the great benefit of that pain. One does not read this book for enjoyment, but one can find peace and comfort throughout the book as questions are dealt with honestly and lovingly, as our Saviour does with each of His beloved.
Profile Image for Reid.
418 reviews27 followers
February 28, 2009
"God permits what He hates, to achieve what He loves"

I really liked this book that Tada and Estes wrote about the theology of suffering and questions when people are in pain.

God is still good even though He allows people to suffer in horrendous ways.

The theology is good, the stories are real; this is no frivolous-pat-answer Christian bandage to the hard realities of suffering.

This book also gives me more of a solid Christian perspective when I am working within the disability community.

Read it if you can be honest about your fears and doubts about God's love in spite of suffering.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews

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