When God's Ways Make No Sense

by Dr. Larry Crabb

Overview

It doesn't take too much living before we realize that life never goes quite the way we want it to. But when things get hard and we don't understand what God is doing, what is our first impulse? Is it to resist him and run away like Jonah? Or is it to trust him even while trembling in fear of suffering like Habakkuk?

In this powerful exploration of God's often mysterious and counterintuitive ways, Dr. Larry Crabb challenges readers to seize the opportunities for growth and maturity that come our way when we experience troubles and failures. Rather than pushing back against adversity, he invites us to look closer at what God is doing in our lives when it feels like he is far from us. Unpacking the stories of two very different prophets, Crabb lights the way to a life of resting in the goodness of a God who is always working out his plan for our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493412655
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/03/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	588,245
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Dr. Larry Crabb is a well-known Christian psychologist, conference and seminar speaker, Bible teacher, and author of more than twenty-five books—including When God's Ways Make No Sense and two Gold Medallion award-winners, Inside Out and Understanding People. He is also the founder/director of NewWay Ministries and cofounder of his legacy ministry, Larger Story. In addition to various other speaking and teaching opportunities, Crabb offers a week-long School of Spiritual Direction held each year at The Cove and the Glen Eyrie in Colorado. He currently is scholar-in-residence at Colorado Christian University. Larry and his wife of fifty years, Rachael, reside near Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, visit LargerStory.com or NewWayMinistries.org.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 11

Foreword Jamie Rasmussen 13

Introduction: God's Way of Thinking Doesn't Easily Fit into Our Minds 17

Part 1 When God's Ways Make No Sense, What Then? Three Stories, Three Answers 29

1 A Christian's Response to an Incomprehensible God: Three Options 33

2 Resist and Run (When Doing Wrong Feels Right): The Story of Jonah 39

3 Distort and Deny (The Counterfeit Gospel): Then and Now: The Story of Saul 53

4 Tremble and Trust (The Response of a Discerning Soul): The Story of Habakkuk 65

Part 2 When God's Ways Make No Sense, Tremble! Why? What? How? 81

5 Why Must We Tremble in Order to Trust? 83

6 Trembling: The Gateway to Trust 89

7 A Hands-Off God? 97

8 Hands-Off but Present (And Still in Control)? 107

9 Counterfeit Christianity for Christians: Claiming a Promise God Never Made 115

10 A Long Journey toward an Elusive Goal 125

Part 3 When God's Ways Make No Sense: Trust in God's Unthwarted Sovereignty 135

11 The High Calling to Trust: Is It Too High? 137

12 In God We Trust: For the Good He Gives or the Good We Want? 147

13 The Consolable Longing: God's Provision for the Good Life That Every Christian Most Wants 159

14 Would We Prefer to Trust a Heavenly Grandfather? (Is That What We're Doing?) 171

15 Enjoying Our Sovereign God: "The Whole of History Is Nothing More Than the Story of God's Activity" 183

16 What Does It Mean to Say God Is Sovereign? Three Views (What View Best Frees Us to Enjoy Our Sovereign God?) 193

Part 4 When God's Ways Make No Sense: Three Parables 207

17 A Modern-Day Jonah: "I Know Better" 209

18 A Modern-Day Saul: "I Can Make It Better" 215

19 A Modern-Day Habakkuk: "There's Nothing Better" 221

Final Comments: Unsettled Trust 227

Notes 231