What do you think?
Rate this book
When Life Hurts: Understanding God's Place in Your Pain
Pain calls our most basic beliefs about God into question. Philip Yancey's When Life Hurts addresses five major questions brought on by pain: Is God competent? Is He really so powerful? Is He fair? Why doesn't He seem to care about pain? And where is God when I need Him most? Yancey provides thought-provoking answers to questions faced by believers in their darkest moments and reveals that even in suffering and pain -- and sometimes because of them -- God's competence, power, wisdom, and love still shine through.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
1 person is currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Philip Yancey
298 books2,379 followersA native of Atlanta, Georgia, Philip Yancey earned graduate degrees in Communications and English from Wheaton College Graduate School and the University of Chicago. He joined the staff of Campus Life Magazine in 1971, and worked there as Editor and then Publisher. He looks on those years with gratitude, because teenagers are demanding readers, and writing for them taught him a lasting principle: The reader is in control!
In 1978 Philip Yancey became a full-time writer, initially working as a journalist for such varied publications as Reader’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, National Wildlife, Christian Century and The Reformed Journal. For several years he contributed a monthly column to Christianity Today magazine, where he also served as Editor at Large.
In 2021 Philip released two new books: A Companion in Crisis and his long-awaited memoir, Where the Light Fell. Other favorites included in his more than twenty-five titles are: Where Is God When It Hurts, The Student Bible, and Disappointment with God. Philip's books have won thirteen Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, have sold more than seventeen million copies, and have been published in over 50 languages. Christian bookstore managers selected The Jesus I Never Knew as the 1996 Book of the Year, and in 1998 What’s So Amazing About Grace? won the same award. His other recent books are Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image; Vanishing Grace: Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World; The Question that Never Goes Away; What Good Is God?; Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?; Soul Survivor; and Reaching for the Invisible God. In 2009 a daily reader was published, compiled from excerpts of his work: Grace Notes.
The Yanceys lived in downtown Chicago for many years before moving to a very different environment in Colorado. Together they enjoy mountain climbing, skiing, hiking, and all the other delights of the Rocky Mountains.
Visit Philip online:
https://www.philipyancey.com
https://www.facebook.com/PhilipYancey
Catch his monthly blog:
https://bit.ly/PhilipYanceyBlog
In 1978 Philip Yancey became a full-time writer, initially working as a journalist for such varied publications as Reader’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, National Wildlife, Christian Century and The Reformed Journal. For several years he contributed a monthly column to Christianity Today magazine, where he also served as Editor at Large.
In 2021 Philip released two new books: A Companion in Crisis and his long-awaited memoir, Where the Light Fell. Other favorites included in his more than twenty-five titles are: Where Is God When It Hurts, The Student Bible, and Disappointment with God. Philip's books have won thirteen Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, have sold more than seventeen million copies, and have been published in over 50 languages. Christian bookstore managers selected The Jesus I Never Knew as the 1996 Book of the Year, and in 1998 What’s So Amazing About Grace? won the same award. His other recent books are Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image; Vanishing Grace: Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World; The Question that Never Goes Away; What Good Is God?; Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?; Soul Survivor; and Reaching for the Invisible God. In 2009 a daily reader was published, compiled from excerpts of his work: Grace Notes.
The Yanceys lived in downtown Chicago for many years before moving to a very different environment in Colorado. Together they enjoy mountain climbing, skiing, hiking, and all the other delights of the Rocky Mountains.
Visit Philip online:
https://www.philipyancey.com
https://www.facebook.com/PhilipYancey
Catch his monthly blog:
https://bit.ly/PhilipYanceyBlog
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 14, 2024
This short book addresses some very common questions we all ask when going through pain or loss and offers the comfort of Jesus. Yancey’s organizes his book into five sections - when you wonder why God created pain, when you doubt God‘s power, when God seems unfair, when you wonder if God cares, and when you need to feel God‘s love. Ultimately he shows us that Jesus is very familiar with our pain and that the painful experiences we have are something He went through as well. I found this book comforting and hopeful. It is not a theological deep-dive, rather just some sweet nourishing for a hurting soul.
October 9, 2021
Loved the last chapter!! Praising God for being my Comforter!!
January 14, 2019
When Life Hurts, by Philip Yancey is a short book that tries to help the reader understand God’s place when one feels pain. It contains five short sections that one can go to when facing a particular challenge about pain. For example, section one is for when you wonder why God created pain, section three is for when God seems unfair, and section four is for when you wonder if God cares.
None of these sections are particularly long. Each section is about ten pages in length, at least two of which are pages with a scripture verse or quotation, and the font for the book itself is a rather large. Despite being short in length, I found that many of the sections have some good insight. They may be of benefit to those who are suffering from pain.
Most of the sections are made up of a story or event that the author relays to us. They may also contain a few scriptures or a retelling of some biblical events. I found the first section about why God created pain to be rather shallow, especially because it doesn’t include the Fall in its discussion. I did appreciate how Mr. Yancey writes about those who cannot feel pain, and the harm it brings to their lives though.
I thought the last two sections to be the most helpful. The example of Jesus as a way to show us how much God cares was good to read. Furthermore, the incredibly loving actions of the women at the end was extremely touching. I was greatly impressed by their charity.
All in all, it’s a short book, it isn’t the deepest, but I think it can be helpful to a number of people. Perhaps it will lead one to explore some of the scriptures it references and the problem of pain more closely in the future.
None of these sections are particularly long. Each section is about ten pages in length, at least two of which are pages with a scripture verse or quotation, and the font for the book itself is a rather large. Despite being short in length, I found that many of the sections have some good insight. They may be of benefit to those who are suffering from pain.
Most of the sections are made up of a story or event that the author relays to us. They may also contain a few scriptures or a retelling of some biblical events. I found the first section about why God created pain to be rather shallow, especially because it doesn’t include the Fall in its discussion. I did appreciate how Mr. Yancey writes about those who cannot feel pain, and the harm it brings to their lives though.
I thought the last two sections to be the most helpful. The example of Jesus as a way to show us how much God cares was good to read. Furthermore, the incredibly loving actions of the women at the end was extremely touching. I was greatly impressed by their charity.
All in all, it’s a short book, it isn’t the deepest, but I think it can be helpful to a number of people. Perhaps it will lead one to explore some of the scriptures it references and the problem of pain more closely in the future.
January 29, 2023
I read another book by the same title by Mike Novotny (not currently on Goodreads). The book I read was a study of the Book of Job from the Bible. It essentially says we have to know who we are (small) and WHO God is (large) so that we can stop asking “why” when bad things happen in our human lives. God isn’t going to answer that question for us. We are sinners and deserve hell; but Jesus died for us so we can go to heaven / “why” doesn’t matter so much then.
July 11, 2025
After pointing people first to Jesus and His Word, I would feel comfortable giving this to anyone hurting that wants to have nuggets of wisdom and comfort, especially if they are plagued by doubts and have questions of God’s purpose, care, fairness, power, and love in their suffering.
It’s a pamphlet read. Easy. Simple. Not overly complex. Could be elaborated on, but serves the purpose of being a bridging resource between conversation and tangible care for a hurting person.
It’s a pamphlet read. Easy. Simple. Not overly complex. Could be elaborated on, but serves the purpose of being a bridging resource between conversation and tangible care for a hurting person.
February 22, 2018
A book for the worst times of life
I chose the book because I had
two lots of surgery last year and then my husband died. There were no easy answers in it but the ideas pointed the way to greater faith and a way to pick up the pieces.
I chose the book because I had
two lots of surgery last year and then my husband died. There were no easy answers in it but the ideas pointed the way to greater faith and a way to pick up the pieces.
June 26, 2020
It is an eye opening read. Loved every page.
June 27, 2011
Fast, easy read. Great book for those struggling and wondering why? Life is not perfect and we need to realize that God is involved even through the pain and suffering.
December 28, 2012
Uplifting. Creates a moment of understanding - even if it's just for the moment.
Read
February 10, 2014This book is a quick read. I read it in a few sittings. It was a comfort to me.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews