Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pit of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment

by Bradley Gray, Chad Bird (Foreword)

Suffering engulfs our lives in an unavoidable darkness, leaving answers and explanations obscured like a sorrowful fog. The gospel of Christ, however, gives us something infinitely more valuable than answers or explanations. Finding God in the Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment is not an attempt to decode or decipher every nook and cranny of sorrow and suffering. It is a journey wherein faith, hope, and love are unexpectedly found along the way, in the midst of darkness. Much to our surprise, that’ s where God shows up, too.

Genres: Theology

190 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2023

Reviews

[Teri Reck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite what this says, Chad Bird is not the author of this book, but the writer of the foreword. The author is Bradley Gray. I heard Bradley Gray speak at the the conference for 1517 that Brian and I attended last Oct. He was a good speaker, and he is an even better writer. This book hit close to home as I have suffered some of the very traumas of life that Bradley talks about in this book. I have dealt with the demons of mental health issues personally, so what he writes of rings so very true to me. This is a very well done treatment of one of the greatest conundrums of the faith--the big Why? Why me, Lord? Are you still there? Do I even matter to You? Where have You gone? Even without considering our silly tendencies toward prosperity Gospel fantasies, it is very, very easy to find oneself thinking that because we are Christians, life should come easily. I mean, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son---so surely he loves us enough to take away our every pain and hardship. Well, we all know that pain and hardship hit us regardless, and sometimes even more so, and that what God promises is not a rabbit's foot to ward off bad stuff, but the love of a friend, a Father, who will stand with us and carry us if need be through all that bad stuff. This is well worth reading!

[Joseph Sell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Chad Bird struck a good balance here on a topic that's hard to hit that with. The book has an appropriate respect to the gravity of its topic without becoming too heavy. I think for someone in the middle of an especially hard season, this could be a helpful book because it gives empathy and encouragement in such a way that those don't cancel each other out. It is very pastoral. I didn't give it five stars because I actually want it to be darker, but I could see how that could overwhelm some readers.

[John Sagherian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Bradley Gray’s “Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, & Disappointment.” Very good and very helpful. The author starts with the depression he and his family experienced and goes on to investigate where God was in all that and what He had to say if anything. Gray bases his explanations in the Bible, but he also says that the Bible’s “books on suffering” (Job and Ecclesiastes) don’t, in fact, offer answers to suffering – at least not to our liking. And yet, the God of comfort came down to earth in the person of Jesus to suffer with us, and for us; he is a “god who bleeds.” The author quotes, among others, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Henri Nouwen, “The hope of God is not dependent on peace in the land, justice in the world, and success in the business. Hope is willing to leave unanswered questions unanswered… Hope makes you see God’s guiding hand… [even] in the shadows of disappointment and darkness.” (Nouwen). God has a habit of working in and through suffering.

This book will not answer the “why?” of suffering, but it will make you think and bring you close to the God who is with you in that suffering.

I highly recommend this book.

[Brandon Creel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great scriptural reference on how to deal with suffering, and I can see it being useful for devotional purposes as well. Having read this now, I plan to keep this handy for the next time troubling times arise and I need a reminder of the hope that is with us always.

“You are invited to complain to him, to cry to him, to bring all your sorrows and cares to him. God listens to us in Christ … even when we have feelings that are ugly and even when such ugly feelings are directed his way. God welcomes us to unload on him. Even when our prayers are noisy complaints, he still wants to hear them (Ps. 55:2).”

[Ben Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44, NASB).

Satan is a crafty liar, having “come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time” (Revelation 12:12, NASB).

He has, therefore, riddled our world with lies about pain. We then treat it as something it isn’t—rather than approaching it as the reality of living in a fallen world, we approach it as something to ignore, bottle up, and overcome. In our age of living ‘your best life now,’ pain just doesn’t fit the formula.

But pain is not something easily shrugged off. It threatens to cripple & debilitate. I’ve tried bottling it up and shoving it away, yet all I found is confusion & frustration.

Pain is the lot our parents in Eden chose, reminding us this world isn’t anymore the paradise God created it as.

In ‘Finding God in the Darkness,’ pastor Bradley Gray defines suffering as ‘illogical,’ “running counter to the primordial intentions given to the created order by the Creator himself” (44).

If hope isn’t found in our efforts to overcome pain, where is it?

Gray walks with us to a bloody cross—where Satan’s lies would never dare lead your bruised & weary heart—to find our God pierced & bleeding, for you.

“The trauma of the cross bespeaks the vast extent of tribulation and horror our incarnate Sufferer weathered on our behalf. Where affliction abounds, then, God’s comfort abounds all the more” (147).

Thankfully, this book isn’t a set of disciplines and practices to help you control the pain and suffering.

Rather, it’s a welcome invitation to cease exerting your already insufficient control over the mess and instead embrace Jesus Christ, the crucified yet risen King, who “is right there with you, in the ashes, sitting on the broken shards with you, picking up the pieces with you, and for you” (37).

I hope you’ll be encouraged and pick up a copy. It’s a warming read, and I trust you too will be left better from reading it. SDG!

[Mike Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written

A personal journey through tragic events and personal trauma. Peppered with personal insight backed by theology, the author reminds us how the suffering Christ is the answer.