Where Is God When a Child Suffers Faith and Suffering in the Family

When the author's son is diagnosed with autistic-like behavior and then experiences painful, disfiguring burns in an endless assault of difficulties, the "explanations" of well-meaning Christian friends only add to the parents' grief surrounding the question, "Where is God when a child suffers?"Initially, parents Penny and Tim Giesbrecht naively believe that bad things couldn't happen to good Christians and that God has rewarded them with the "perfect" baby. Then, with Jeremy's troubled, uncommunicative behavior that sees him regress to become like "a stranger in a foreign country", others suggest an array of reasons: that his suffering occurs so the Giesbrechts will grow spiritually, for their own good and God's glory, so the Giesbrechts will know how to help others who suffer, or because God deems them "special parents".Anyone who searches for answers as he or she agonizes over a child's suffering or death can identify with this brutally honest struggle with some of life's most inexplicable problems in Where Is God When a Child Suffers? As the Giesbrechts cry, question God, get angry, and plead for answers, they learn more things about themselves and the love of God than many people ever grasp. They decline to relegate the "why's" of life's developments into neat pigeonholes, as many would attempt to do, but instead rely on faith in the areas where the Bible doesn't provide specific solutions. Suffering as a consequence of being human, as old as the Garden of Eden and humankind's first choice that impacted history and leads to ultimate redemption, is traced in a practical, compassionate way that offers hope in the midst of tragic circumstances.Giesbrecht, Penny R. is the author of 'Where Is God When a Child Suffers Faith and Suffering in the Family', published 1988 under ISBN 9780929292021 and ISBN 0929292022.