Trusting God When Bad Things Happen
There was a dark season in my life when it literally felt like an earthquake had occurred. Everything in my life seemed to be falling apart...my family, my finances, our church. And I asked God the simple question, "Why?" This book is the result of my own search for answers. More
Shelley Hitz is an award-winning and international best-selling author. However, she gives all the glory to God for what He is doing through her life. As she likes to say, “God is the author, I am simply the pen.” Shelley has been ministering alongside her husband, CJ, since 1998 and her main passion is to share God’s truth and the freedom in Christ she has found with others. She does this through her books, websites and speaking engagements.
She is also the co-owner of BodyandSoulPublishing.com where she shares free Christian books on her blog, owner of Self-Publishing-Coach.com where she helps authors get published and noticed and co-founder of CrossReads.com where Christian readers and authors meet.
The main reason Shelley writes and publishes Christian books is to share her testimony, use the gift of teaching God has given her and bring glory to God. Ironically, she never dreamed of being a published author and English was one of her worst subjects in school growing up. However, God is now using her weaknesses for His strength to impact many for eternity (2 Corinthians 12:9). She is humbled and amazed that He chooses to use her and her life goal is to keep her eyes fixed on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2). Shelley’s openness and vulnerability as she shares her own story of hope and healing through her books will inspire and encourage you.
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Nonfiction > Religion and Spirituality > Christian Life / Personal GrowthNonfiction > Religion and Spirituality > Christian Life / Inspirational
Nonfiction > Religion and Spirituality > Christian Life / General
Nonfiction > Religion and Spirituality > Christian Life / Spiritual Warfare
Nonfiction > Inspiration > Spiritual inspiration
Reviews
Review by:
Shelley Adam
on March 13, 2013 :
I have read Shelley's books on gratitude. Through this book I found out the sorrows in her own life and I am amazed that she can see life with gratitude. Yet, she's sees God Hand in all of it, even though much was hard to walk through at the time. I recommend this to anyone who is struggling or knows someone who is. Shelley's heart to help others is once again made clear in her writings.
I received a complimentary Kindle download to review this book.
(reviewed 24 days after purchase)
Review by:
Suzanna Worth
on Feb. 21, 2013 :
This is a very good book; worthwhile to read it when you are struggle.
(reviewed 22 days after purchase)
Review by:
Beverly Terry
on Jan. 22, 2013 :
This little book is part of a larger work, "Forgiveness Formula: Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ", but stands very well on its own. It is a comfortable read, and can be finished in a short time, although personally this is the type of guide that needs to be worked through little by little. The way I would approach this is to read it thoroughly a couple of times first, then sit down with a journal and write reflections as you meditate on a section.
The key the author wants to share with her readers in trusting God when bad things happen is in this quote, "I believe it is important to have a healthy view of God before a crisis happens. Otherwise, we'll view God through the crisis instead of viewing the crisis through God and His character." She encourages each of us to examine ourselves and discover how we view God. She offers some guidelines we can use in this process in Part 3 of this book. This is the part of the book I would recommend spending time praying and journaling.
In Part 2 of the book, Ms. Hitz shares with us some of her own crisis experiences. Because of these events in her life, she has had to wrestle with a lot of difficult questions herself. "Why?" is a common response for many of us facing our pain, hurts, and suffering. I find it personally comforting to know that she can write authoritatively about this topic. When facing my own demons, nothing helps more than empathy and advice from someone who KNOWS and has come out of it with a closer personal relationship with Christ and is willing to share what worked for them. She uses some metaphors in this section that may help us get some perspective in dealing with the 'why' question. One of those metaphors is the puzzle piece. Imagine yourself holding a piece of a puzzle. You do not know anything about the picture it comes from. You can study the single piece minutely and make some guesses, but in the end you probably won't even come close to seeing the whole picture. But we can know the One who has all the rest of the pieces and trust Him.
This is not a perfect world. Life is full of brokenness and hurt. We try to escape our pain and often the way we deal with it just adds more pain. As a result of her painful past, Shelley Hitz became involved in a ministry that reaches out to hurting young people. She created some websites to follow up with the speaking ministry and it was her interaction with questions many of the girls asked that led to writing this book.
Have bad things happened to you? Have you ever questioned why God would allow such things to happen? Then I recommend this book for you. It could change your life.
A complimentary review copy was provided to me by Smashwords. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
(reviewed 40 days after purchase)
Review by:
Scott Branam, Sr
on Jan. 17, 2013 :
(no rating)
Trust God. Sometimes that's like trusting your 3 yr.old with a 9mm.
Mind you; I'm over dramatizing, but sometimes, you just have to let go and let God.
(reviewed 22 days after purchase)
Review by:
AltWit Press
on Dec. 16, 2012 :
"Life is Pain. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something."
This quote from The Princess Bride should also refer to Christianity. Just because you become a Christian does not mean that life will be perfect and care-free, and that you'll never trip or fall. Being a Christian just means that you'll have Someone there to help give you a hand up and console you if you hurt yourself, and someone who will point out certain potholes along the way and help to avoid them.
So if God is good...why does He allow bad things to happen?
The author uses personal experiences and scripture to help the reader understand the answer to this question. She uses plain English, so anyone can understand. This is a solid, biblically accurate and short read.
(reviewed the day of purchase)