Reaching for the Invisible God: What Can We Expect to Find? - Softcover

Yancey, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310235863 ISBN 13: 9780310235866

Publisher: Zondervan, 2000

Synopsis

'How do I relate to a God who is invisible when I'm never quite sure he's there?--Philip Yancey Life with God doesn't always work like we thought. High expectations slam against the reality of personal weaknesses and unwelcome surprises. And the God who we've been told longs for our company may seem remote, emotionally unavailable. Is God playing games? What can we count on this God for? How can we know? How can we know God? This relationship with a God we can't see, hear, or touch---how does it really work? Reaching for the Invisible God offers deep, satisfying insights that affirm and dignify the questions we're sometimes afraid to ask. Award-winning author Philip Yancey explores six foundational areas: our thirst for God, faith during times when God seems unavailable, the nature of God himself, our personal relationship with God, stages along the way, and the end goal of spiritual transformation. Honest and deeply personal, here is straight talk on life with God for the man or woman who wants more than pat answers to life's imponderables. Ultimately, Yancey shifts the focus from our questions to the One who offers himself in answer. The God who invites us to reach for him---and find.

About this title

Review

In a sea of books that promise certainty, award-winning author Philip Yancey (What's So Amazing About Grace, The Jesus I Never Knew) is not afraid to write about the mystery of belief, about letting risk and faith go hand in hand. Reaching for the Invisible God: What Can We Expect to Find? is Yancey at his best--wrestling with difficult questions and refusing to give pat answers. In our quest to know God, he offers this caveat: "The more personal conception of God we have, the more unnerving are the questions about him."

Yancey quotes extensively from classic writers and sketches scenes of doubting biblical figures as he grapples with making sense of a God who is personal, yet sometimes so elusive. Six different aspects of the Christian life are explored: our longing for God, who God is, the Holy Spirit, our faith, growth, and spiritual transformation. In his explorations, he reassembles the difficult and perplexing events of life around an ability to trust in a loving God. Trust is pivotal. Admitting that God's style "often baffles me," Yancey leaves no doubt that his framework of faith is still in place, that he sees "evidence of (God's) long-suffering, mercy, and desire to woo rather than compel--I have learned to trust God."

Here is the clear, concise writing mixed with deeply personal and authentic insights that won Yancey nine Gold Medallion Awards for previous books. Expect a 10th. --Cindy Crosby

From the Author

Philip Yancey serves as editor at Large for Christianity Today magazine. His books The Jesus I Never Knew and What's So Amazing About Grace? were national best-sellers appearing on both the Publisher's Weekly and ECPA lists. Both books also won the Gold Medallion Book of the Year Award. Yancey has written eight Gold Medallion Award-winning books, including Where Is God When it Hurts? Disappointment with God, and The Gift of Pain. He co-edited The Student Bible, which also won a Gold Medallion Award. He and his wife live in Colorado

Edition details

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0310235863
• ISBN 13: 9780310235866
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304