Reddit mentions of The Shack

I always recommend books. Scroll down for four book recommendations.

Can you make time to meet with your pastor?
Could you email, or phone-video-chat?

One of my favorite prayers is from Mark 9:24 when a parent frantically brings his son to Jesus for healing and cries out, "Lord, I believe. Help me in my unbelief!"
You are not alone in having a crisis of faith. But go through, don't stop. Do participate in the life of the church -- not just the worship service but study and service as well. Do repeat that Mark 9:24 prayer -- put it on a mental loop.

I'm also happy to keep on talking.
Now the books:

Lately I've been recommending Joshua Ryan Butler's The Pursuing God, as he re-frames the story of God interacting with people.

I also appreciate how William Young deals with belief in The Shack.

Perhaps my strongest recommendation for you at this time: Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life

One other recommendation, a memoir from a British satirist named Tony Hendra, Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul.

A couple of thoughts:


You say that you have been feeling depressed. Depression is anger turned inward generally expressed by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. The truth is that you are helpless. We all are. We can do nothing outside of God and that’s a good thing. Most people are forever worrying about the future: something that is impossible to predict or prevent. Think of all the energy that we waste worrying about things that almost never happen. As for hopelessness, place your hope in God. This does not mean that God is going to make everything in your life painless. We are told that there will be tribulation in our lives. But even in times of tribulation you can be certain that God is with you. Trust in Him even when what is happening to us seems “bad”.


You say that you don’t understand the workings of God. Join the club. No mere mortal can understand the workings of an all-powerful, all-knowing God. We can only see but a small fraction of reality that is happening right before us at this very minute. Trusting God during times of uncertainty is called faith.


You ask why others “move on to what appears to be a much happier life? Why is it that I am left in the shadows, while everyone continues to move on, thrive/flourish?” We are told not to judge others. Most people believe that simply means not to condemn others for their sins. I would maintain that God commands us not to judge others at all. Don’t judge (or place on a pedestal) those who APPEAR to have it all together. They wear the right clothes, drive the right cars, say the right things, smile and seem happy. Do you know that they are? Do you know what’s in their hearts? Do you know that they are happy? Content? Only God knows what’s in a man’s heart. Everything else is just illusions that we create to try to convince people that we are somebody else.


You say that you are “surrounded more than ever by people who are controlling.” No you’re not. The only person who can control you is the person that you ALLOW to control you.


I’d like to recommend a book that I recently read (for the second time). http://www.amazon.com/Shack-Special-Hardcover-William-Young/dp/0964729245/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288888492&sr=1-1 . More than any other, this book has really changed my view of God, how He works, and my relationship with Him. After you have read it, you will understand when I tell you that God is especially fond of you.