Where Is God in This? , livre ebook

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86 pages

English

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Life is unfair. Bad things happen to good people. Not all dreams come true. We lose people. We fail people. And when we encounter the inevitable struggles of life, we may be tempted to ask God Why me? as we try to reconcile our pain with God's promises. But a far more helpful and life-enriching question for us to ask God is What are you trying to teach me in this? Tackling ten common struggles, such as isolation, fear, rejection, failure, insecurity, temptation, and more, Landra Young Hughes shows you how to have peace even when life doesn't make sense. Speaking with great empathy born from her own losses and years in ministry, Hughes doesn't suggest you "get over" your hard times. Instead, she helps you recognize that, while you will always live in a broken world this side of heaven, your pain has much to teach you about God and yourself. With her empathetic help, you'll discover how to grow through grief and thrive despite adversity.

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	18 octobre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493432912
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0408€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Endorsements
“This book is raw and personal as Landra shares her honest pursuit of the truth that heals. Get ready to receive a big dose of hope through her grace-infused insights.”
Craig Groeschel , pastor of Life.Church and New York Times bestselling author
Amy Groeschel , cofounder of Life.Church and founder of Branch15
“This book isn’t written with theories, nice sentiments, or cute ideas. Landra wrote this book from a tear-soaked place of pain and loss and heartache—the same place you might be in right now. In Where Is God in This ? you will not only find her hard-earned insight, biblical wisdom, and encouragement but also a friend who will sit with you in the pain, ask the hard questions, and hold your hand on the journey. If you’re ready to grow your roots down deep and open your heart for God to bring purpose out of your pain, this book is for you!”
Jennie Lusko , cofounder of Fresh Life Church and bestselling author
“If you’ve ever wondered where God is during the dark moments of life, this book is for you. Landra begins her story with the devastating loss of her sister LeeBeth. We have had the honor of knowing both Landra and LeeBeth personally, so watching their family process LeeBeth’s death was heartbreakingly beautiful. It was a true testament to their faith and inspired our own faith in such a profound way. Landra invites you on that journey—one that is still in progress—and she offers hope in knowing that God leverages our pain for good, if we allow him to. Where Is God in This? is a timely reminder that no matter our circumstances, no matter what’s going on in the world around us, we are still held by the Creator of the universe. And he will never leave us or forsake us. Walking side by side both gratitude and grief is something God has modeled for us and something Landra and her family continue to model through this journey of faith.”
Sean and Catherine Lowe , television personalities
“People like stories with happy endings. We want to hear about how good life is after the battle, but that’s not what Landra Young Hughes does in Where Is God in This? She is right in the middle of one of the most painful experiences of her life—grieving the death of her sister. She writes with the authority of someone standing in the center of the firefight. The pain is fresh, but so is the faith.”
Jimmy Evans , founder and president of XO Marriage
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2022 by Landra Young Hughes
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3291-2
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®. NIrV®. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc. ® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016
Scripture quotations labeled GNT are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version-Second Edition. Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled MSG are from THE MESSAGE , copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The author is represented by The FEDD Agency, Inc.
Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.
Dedication
In memory of my sister LeeBeth Young, whose beautiful life continues to teach us all about God’s good purpose.
Contents
Cover
Endorsements 1
Half Title Page 3
Title Page 5
Copyright Page 6
Dedication 7
1. God? I’d Like to Speak to the Manager 11
2. Isolation Station 25
3. What a Girl Wants 43
4. Do I Smell Something Burning? 61
5. Hurts So Good 79
6. We All Fall Down 95
7. Slaying the Giant 111
8. Trees of Life 125
9. I Have an Opinion, Your Honor 139
10. Cure for the Common Craving 157
Epilogue 175
Notes 179
About the Authors 183
Back Ads 185
Back Cover 188
1 God? I’d Like to Speak to the Manager
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 NIV
I’m not really OK.
That’s probably not how you should start a book that’s supposed to help people, right? Especially a book about finding value in the struggles and suffering we experience in life. I should probably open with a lighthearted story you can connect with. Something that would engage you, maybe make you smile—something endearing, almost kitschy. The decline of the Bachelor franchise would be an obvious choice.
But that’s not what we’re doing in this book.
See, I’m in the middle of what has to be the most soul-draining season of my life. And right now, it feels dark. It feels heavy. And it feels hopeless.
Notice, I said it feels. Because you know the thing about feelings? They’re not always a representation of what’s true . And this knowledge does assuage the ache slightly, but for the most part, I vacillate between crushing waves of despair and blurry interludes of business as usual.
On January 18, 2021, my precious sister LeeBeth Young died.
LeeBeth was sick. She had been sick for a long time but not the kind of sick that means Get Well Soon balloons and all-you-can-eat ice cream. LeeBeth was an alcoholic—a binge drinker. Now, if you’re not familiar with the disease of addiction, I’m sure it’s impossible to wrap your head around the idea that someone can’t stop doing the thing that makes them sicker. But that’s the nature of the mental insanity that seizes those of us with this particular thorn.
I say “us,” because as an anorexic/bulimic in recovery, I have a level of empathy for LeeBeth. By God’s miraculous grace, I walk in healing from my addiction. And by the same miraculous grace, LeeBeth is in heaven with our Father, walking out her healing with a restored mind and body.
Yes, there’s the glorious and life-giving hope of heaven. But here on earth, it still hurts.
It had only been a few short years since we realized LeeBeth was a full-blown alcoholic. She never partied growing up. She never drank. She didn’t sleep around. In fact, she was pretty perfect by surface standards. But later in life, LeeBeth suffered from loneliness and depression, which transformed her into someone completely different (more on this later). When LeeBeth was sick, it was like she had undergone a total personality transplant. I didn’t even know my sister the last few months leading up to her death.
I’d like to paint some pretty picture for you here and say we had a meaningful moment in her final days that I look back on now as some mysterious treasure, but that’s not the case. Death rarely gives you that perfect Pixar ending.
I did have a chance to talk to LeeBeth shortly before she died. And I guess if I were going to look back and say there was one last time we connected meaningfully, that would be it. She called me from my dad’s phone and just kept repeating over and over how sorry she was for being sick again.
“I just want you better,” I told her. “I love you. My kids love you. We all love you. We just want LeeBeth back.”
I was so angry that night. I asked my husband, Brad, “When is she going to hit rock bottom? When will she lose more than she’s willing to lose and make some sort of change? Why does she keep doing this to us? To herself? What is it going to take for her to get well?”
Kind and brilliant Brad said, “Landra, I think what she really needs from us is just acceptance. No more advice, no more telling her what to do. She just really needs to know that we’re beside her on this journey. That we love her no matter what.”
If you have a significant other, is there anything more annoying than when they’re calm, rational, and right when you just want to be mad?
But he was. He was right. LeeBeth just needed our love.
I’d like to think the last memory LeeBeth has of this earth is of her father, holding her, caring for her, telling her how much he loved her. Dad was in his office working on a sermon—a message about God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac—when he heard a noise down the hallway.
LeeBeth was having a seizure. My brother and sister-in-law were staying there for the night, and Dad screamed for them to start CPR while he called 911. The paramedics who arrived were able to find a faint heartbeat, but no pulse. What happened next is a hazy, bitter blur.
Intubation.
Doctors.
My dad trying to fly my mom back home.
Calls.
Texts.
Prayers.
Tears.
Hearts shattering.
“I’m sorry,” the doctor finally said. “There’s nothing else left for us to do. LeeBeth is gone.”
Some of us in the room