This is the challenging title of book recently brought to my attention in a friend's Christmas letter.
I borrowed it from the library and read it. The author writes about his experiences as a fairly new and naive missionary in Somalia where the extreme poverty and devastation severely challenged his belief in a loving God. However he went on to develop a ministry among people in countries all round the world where their Christian faith results in persecution. The stories he heard and the vibrant faith of these communities more than restored his faith in the God who seems to work most powerfully in situations of persecution and hardship.
I'm Blogging about this book for a couple of reasons: I like recommending books that have been powerful for me so that others can read them too! Also this book seems to me to give many specific examples of what yesterday's post was about - hope arising out of terror (or at least extreme hardship and persecution). Read it for yourself and see what you think! It also made me think of a couple of earlier posts I wrote about the book I Shall Not Hate. (see here and here) There's powerful theme emerging here, for me at any rate: out of what seem the worst situations, the best is often revealed. It doesn't make the "worst" events good, or even acceptable from a human rights perspective, but even then, the irrepressible ability of God to make "all things work together for good" shines through.
P.S. Don't think I have it all worked out about famine, poverty and the heart-breaking impacts of war, terrorism and human greed. I definitely don't! But these are clues, hints and glimpses that keep my hope and faith alive.
