When God’s Ways Make No Sense

Title: When God’s Ways Make No Sense
Author: Dr Larry Crabb
Series: Stand-Alone
Genre: Christian Living
Publishing Date: July 3, 2018

About the Book:
It doesn’t take too much living before we realize that life never goes quite the way we want it to. But when things get hard and we don’t understand what God is doing, what is our first impulse? Is it to resist him and run away like Jonah? Or is it to trust him even while trembling in fear of suffering like Habbakuk?

In this powerful exploration of God’s often mysterious and counterintuitive ways, Dr. Larry Crabb challenges readers to seize the opportunities for growth and maturity that come our way when we experience troubles and failures. Rather than pushing back against adversity, he invites us to look closer at what God is doing in our lives when it feels like he is far from us. Unpacking the stories of two very different prophets, Crabb lights the way to a life of resting in the goodness of a God who is always working out his plan for our lives.

About the Author:
Dr. Larry Crabb is a well-known psychologist, conference and seminar speaker, Bible teacher, popular author, and founder/director of NewWay Ministries. In addition to various other speaking and teaching opportunities, Dr. Crabb offers a weekend conference throughout the country entitled Life on the Narrow Road and a week-long School of Spiritual Direction held in Colorado Springs, CO. He currently is Scholar in Residence at Colorado Christian University in Colorado and serves as Spiritual Director for the American Association of Christian Counselors. Dr. Crabb has authored many books including; Understanding People, The Marriage Builder, Finding God, Connecting, The Safest Place on Earth, The Pressure’s Off, Shattered Dreams, and SoulTalk. His latest book, The PAPA Prayer, was released in February 2006. Dr. Crabb and his wife, Rachael, live in the Denver, Colorado area.

My Review:
It’s hard for me to explain how I feel about this book. I have mixed emotions on both sides. Dr Larry Crabb speaks as a man currently dealing with unhealed cancer. The further he gets into the book, the more you can see that he wrestles with how he is truly supposed to process this (along with other heartaches people face).

I think the best thing I got out of this book is that Dr Crabb shares that it’s okay that we don’t have all the answers. We aren’t meant to on this side of heaven. When we try to figure everything out about God and His ways, and we try to comprehend them on a human level, we are putting God in a box He doesn’t belong in. God’s ways are vastly higher than our ways, and in our humanness we are intended to recognize that. When people are going through really tough situations in this life, it can be best for us to simply admit that fact and offer our support, rather than trying to speak as if we know all of the reasons God allows what He does.

One piece that I really struggled with in this book was the section where Dr Crabb calls himself a “Christian Deist.” He stated that he doesn’t believe that God set the world in motion and walked away (like the Deists believe), but that God chooses what to control and not control.  I don’t believe that’s what scripture tells us. God may choose what to allow or not, but He doesn’t pick and choose what He has control over. God is always in control. I really didn’t agree with that section in particular.

I’ll be honest that when I requested this book my hope was to find something that would help me talk with those who may be hurting or those who have big questions for God. While there are a few things I was able to pull from this, I also felt underwhelmed. I appreciate him sharing his thoughts with raw honesty, but I feel that some of it was a little too honest. I’m on the fence as to whether or not I’d openly recommend this one. There were both agreeable and disagreeable points. I don’t believe I would recommend it to new believers because I feel that the reader really needs to have a deep understanding of the scriptures before diving in.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

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