Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not

Sometimes it feels impossible to reconcile the pain of our circumstances with the image of an all-loving, all-powerful God. Hope in the Dark, by pastor Craig Groeschel, explores that poignant contradiction with gentle honesty, biblical truths, and stories of people who wrestled with deeply personal questions about God and faith.

Can God be good when life is not? Rediscover faith in the character, power, and presence of God. Even in the questions. Even in the hurt.

"I want to believe, I want to have hope, but . . ." Pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel hears these words often and has asked them himself. We want to know God, feel his presence, and trust that he hears our prayers, but in the midst of great pain, we may wonder if he really cares about us. Even when we have both hope and hurt, sometimes it's the hurt that shouts the loudest.

In Hope in the Dark, Groeschel explores the story of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus, saying, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" In the man's sincere plea, Jesus heard the tension in the man's battle-scarred heart. He healed not only the boy but the father too, driving out the hopelessness that had overtaken him. He can do the same for us today.

As Groeschel shares his pain surrounding the health challenges of his daughter, he acknowledges the questions we may ask in our own deepest pain:

• "Where was God when I was being abused?"
• "Why was my child born with a disability?"
• "Why did the cancer come back?"
• "Why are all my friends married and I'm alone?"

He invites us to wrestle with such questions as we ask God to honor our faith and heal our unbelief. Because in the middle of your profound pain, you long for authentic words of understanding and hope. You long to know that even in overwhelming reality, you can still believe that God is good.

Hope in the Dark is also available in Spanish, Esperanza en la Oscuridad.