In moments of disappointment and doubt, three questions dig into our hearts!

The absurd reality that is difficult to explain with the concepts of God learned in church brings about deep doubt and disappointment about God within us.
And in the process, these questions take root within us.


Is God really fair?
Is God silent?
Is God hiding?

In this book, Philip Yancey, a self-proclaimed mentor to skeptics, explores these three questions that plague skeptics more candidly and deeply than anyone else.
Instead of teaching them the answers he knows, he thinks with them and finds the answers.
And through various examples and Bible stories, it guides us to look not only to our suffering or solutions to our problems, but also to God Himself.
It broadens our perspective to see a God who suffers with us and is willing to risk rejection for his love.

Is God hidden? This question, more than anything, was troubling Richard.
He believed that God had to prove himself in some way, and that this was the absolute minimum theological foundation that could never be compromised.
“How can you have a relationship with someone whose existence you can’t even be sure of?” he thought.
It seemed as if God had hidden himself on purpose.
Even from those who diligently sought God, he seemed to be hidden.
He prayed all night but received no answer from God, so he gave up on God. ---Chapter 3.
A question no one asks outright

But does the fact that God spoke clearly make us more likely to obey? Not at all.
God said:
“Do not go up and fight against the Amorites.
Because I will not be with you.
You will be defeated by your enemies.” But the Israelites went up and fought against the Amorites, and were ultimately defeated.
When told to sit still, they went forward; when told to fight, they ran away; when told to proclaim peace, they fought; when told to fight, they proclaimed peace.
The whole nation enjoyed breaking the 613 articles of command.
If unclear guidance was a wound to us, such clear guidance was a wound to them. ---Chapter 4.
If

God spoke back, defending the way he ran the world.
He exploded in anger, shouted, and cried.
And he said this:
I am not silent.
I have spoken through the prophets.
We tend to rank God's revelations according to their dramatic effect.
Flashy appearances are the highest grade, supernatural miracles are the next highest, and the words of prophets are the lowest grade.
For example, the fire on Mount Carmel is more persuasive than Jeremiah's heartbreaking sermon.
But God does not recognize such ranks.
Ironically, God clearly states that the very prophets who questioned His silence were proof that He cares about us.
How can a nation with people like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Isaiah complain that God is silent?
God did not consider 'mere words' to be inferior evidence to miracles.
In any case, miracles did not have a lasting impact on the faith of the Israelites.
But the prophets were to record God's proposals to the people permanently and pass them on to future generations---Chapter 11.
wounded lover

God steps back.
Hide.
And it cries.
Why? Because what He desires can never be achieved by force.
He is a king who desires love, not submission.
So rather than trying to force through Jerusalem, Rome, and all the worldly powers, he chose the slow and difficult path of incarnation, love, and death.
It was a conquest from within.

George MacDonald summarized Christ's approach:
“He did not trample on the forces of evil with divine power.
He did not enforce justice and destroy the wicked, nor did he bring peace to the earth through the rule of a perfect king.
He did not gather the children of Jerusalem under His wings against their will and save them from all the calamities that tormented Him who had the spirit of a prophet.
Rather, Jesus allowed evil to run wild while it was still alive.
He was content, in a slow and unwelcome way, to help with the essentials: making humans good, and not just controlling but driving out Satan.
To love righteousness is to grow in righteousness, not to be vengeful.… While Christ lived on earth, he resisted the impulse to work hastily for lower-level good.
Even when he saw his old age, purity, and righteousness being trampled upon, he refused that hasty impulse. ---Chapter 15.
God who hesitates

No one is exempt from tragedy or disappointment.
Even God himself was not exempt.
Jesus does not offer us an exemption or escape from injustice.
Rather, it shows us a way to break through the unfairness and move on to the other side.
Just as Good Friday shattered our instinctive belief that life should be fair, the Easter Sunday that followed was a surprising clue to solving the mysteries of the universe.
A bright light shines in the darkness.
The primal yearning for fairness does not die easily, but it must die.
Who among us doesn't yearn for more justice to be spread here and now in this world? I, too, secretly yearn for a "flawless" world that won't disappoint us.
I long for a world where my articles in magazines are always recognized, where my body never ages or becomes weak, where my sister-in-law doesn't have to give birth to a brain-damaged child, and where Peggy Woodson lives a healthy life into old age.
But if I were to place my faith in such a flawless world, that faith would disappoint me.
Even the greatest miracles cannot solve the problems of this world.
Don't people who have experienced healing eventually die someday?
We need more than a miracle.
We need a new heaven and a new earth, and until we get them, injustice will not go away.

---Chapter 24.
Is God unfair?