When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty

It's easy to trust God when things are going our way and the world makes sense. But when suffering strikes--especially seemingly senseless suffering--we are filled with doubt and stunned by events spiraling beyond our control. In the midst of suffering, we often question the very foundation of our faith--our belief in the God who says he loves us. Since our trust and obedience rest on God's character, the questions that life's tragedies force us to face are difficult, even frightening. Who is God? Can he really be trusted? What are his purposes in the face of suffering? If he can stop suffering, why doesn't he? Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman who has lived in a wheelchair for more than thirty years, and Steve Estes, a pastor and one of Joni's closest friends, explore the answers. When God Weeps is not so much a book about suffering as it is about God. It tackles tough questions about heaven and hell, horrors and hardships, and why God allows suffering in this life. Through a panoramic overview of what the Bible says about suffering, the authors make clear who God is, why he permits so much heartache and pain, and how it is we can trust him. With both a practical edge and heartfelt warmth, When God Weeps offers dependence on his love and mercy in spite of our doubts, fears, longings, and questions. It's a message much needed. Despair and discouragement are rampant. At the same time, fewer people are able to balance God's purposes and his mercies. Instead, attempting to avoid tragedy and suffering, many Christians confuse simple formulas for faith. But where does that leave the family who loses a son on a military mission? Or the young mother who isn't healed of cancer? When God Weeps is for people like these . . . and for thousands more who need more -- much more -- than answers.

Joni Eareckson Tada is the founder of Joni and Friends, an organization accelerating Christian outreach in the disability community that numbers 610 million people worldwide. This organization operates out of the new Joni and Friends International Disability Center located in Agoura Hills, California. Joni is not only an international disability advocate but an artist and the author of numerous bestselling books, including Pearls of Great Price, Diamonds in the Dust, More Precious Than Silver, the Platinum award-winning Joni, Heaven: Your Real Home, When God Weeps, and The God I Love. SPANISH BIO: Joni Eareckson Tada es el fundadora del Centro Internacional de Discapacidad Joni y sus amigos, una organizacion con sede en California que promueve el alcance cristiano en la comunidad de discapacitados a nivel mundial (www.joniandfriends.org). En 1967, un accidente durante un salto de clavado dejo cuadriplegica a Joni, pero los anos no fueron desaprovechados. Su siempre profundo amor por la Palabra de Dios ha generado mas de treinta y cinco libros, incluyendo sus exitosos devocionales, Diamantes en el polvo y Mas precioso que la plata. Joni y su esposo, Ken, han estado casados durante veinticuatro anos y tienen su hogar en Calabasas, California.

Steven Estes holds Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary and Columbia Bible College. He is the senior pastor of Community Evangelical Church in Elverson, Pennsylvania. With Joni Tada, he co-authored A Step Further and When God Weeps and also wrote Called to Die, the biography of slain missionary linguist Chet Bitterman.