Life can and does hurt. I don’t know of any person that has not faced pain in their life. Some do experience seemingly less pain, but everyone knows what it’s like to hurt. When the pain is severe and long lasting, where is God? Does He leave us alone until the pain is gone? Or is there a greater plan that He is forming us for?

Todd Rettberg has faced a life of chronic pain, pain that has left him unable to function normally at times. He has wondered the same things. Why has God not removed the pain, even after being begged. Why has healing not come? Many of us have been at the same place.

Rettberg relates his story, as well as those of people he knows, to illustrate that God does allow pain. Not as a show of superiority, but to teach and shape us. Rettberg tells how people with chronic pain are in a position to empathize with the pain of others, which opens doors of ministry.

He also tells people who do not suffer from constant pain that there are better ways to comfort those who do. We often settle for the pet answers of “I’ll pray for you,” or “God works through all things for good.” These sound good, but don’t offer the comfort of staying by the person’s side through the pain.

Above all, Rettberg reassures us that God has a purpose for all of us, even though it might involve pain. All of us are in a position, and given skills and experiences, to minister to others.

I received this book from BookCrash.com in exchange for this review.