Trusting in God’s Goodness When Life is Hard

Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur reviews Gary Zimak's new book, When Your Days Are Dark, God Is Still Good: Biblical Advice to Help You Trust in Difficult Times.

Do you struggle to trust and believe in God’s goodness when you look at all the pain and suffering in the world or when you are experiencing trials in your life? If you do, you are not alone. Yet Saint Paul tells us,

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Is this true? 

Gary Zimak acknowledges the difficulty in believing in that promise when all seems dark. In his latest book, When Your Days Are Dark, God Is Still Good: Biblical Advice to Help You Trust in Difficult Times, he shares personal stories and examples from Scripture to illustrate that God is present with us in hard times and can use our suffering to bring about a greater good. 

Some of the biblical stories Zimak discusses are Adam and Eve, the death of Lazarus, the apostles after Jesus’s death, and Ruth and Naomi. Through these and other narratives, Zimak shows the mysterious ways that God can bring hope out of discouragement and healing out of pain.  

When Your Days Are Dark, God Is Still Good offers no pat answers. Zimak knows that there is a great deal of inexplicable suffering this side of heaven. He understands; he has experienced it in his own life. Seeing the good that God brings out of our pain can take a long time. Sometimes, as in the Bible stories, it is not in our lifetime on this earth.  

But we have reason to trust. 

[God's] actions may seem illogical to us, but that’s because he’s God and we’re not. ... Choosing to believe in God’s goodness and power no matter what happens can bring us great peace. 

If you are having a hard time trusting in God’s goodness, I highly recommend When Your Days Are Dark, God Is Still Good. It won’t magically wipe away your doubt, but it can help strengthen your faith. At the very least, it will remind you that you are not alone, that suffering is an inherent part of the human condition, and that God is with us and working in our lives even when we don’t see it.    

Ask for When Your Days Are Dark, God Is Still Good at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Ave Maria Press.

Copyright 2023 Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur
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