Why God Why?: What To Do When Life Doesn't Make Sense

by Karen Jensen Salisbury, Karen Jensen

 There are hard things in this life. You’ve seen things that cause you to ask, “Why?” Go ahead and ask.Pastor Karen Jensen knows firsthand what it is like to experience personal tragedy. In this book she shares with readers that it’s OK to ask why, but it’s not OK to “camp out” there.

The book will open with Karen’s story: she and her husband were pastors of a church for about four years. She was thirty-seven, and their sons were twelve and thirteen. Her husband went to bed early New Year’s night and by the time she went into the bedroom a little while later, he was dead in the bed. There was no conclusive medical explanation for how he died, but he left Karen to carry on not only as the mother of their two children but as the pastor of the church they had started. Karen uses this personal story as the backdrop for her teaching that will both inspire and challenge Christians who are trying to cope with personal loss and other life-altering circumstances.

“Things happen. Things are still going to happen. It is not the time to toss in the towel. Keep going. Keep trusting. God is faithful, and you can trust Him.”

Genres: Christian

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 2013

About the author

I am a wife, mom, writer, Jesus-lover and teacher of the Word. I've lived in Oregon, California, Idaho, Oklahoma, and now Minnesota -- apparently, I get around!
It's my joy to share life's great experiences and God's faithfulness with you, my readers. I just happen to believe that all things are possible to those who believe, and it's my passion to help you to keep on believing if and when life gets hard.
Be sure to drop me a note -- I love to hear from you!

Reviews

[Emily Vander Ark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writer Karen Jensen is a traveling motivational speaker as well as a professor at RHEMA Bible Training College in Broken Arrow Oklahoma. After her husband’s sudden death at the age of thirty-seven, Jensen became a single mom as well as the senior pastor at the church where she and her husband had previously pastored together. This traumatic experience of great loss gave Jensen a first-hand look at how a Christian should believe, question, and think about God when bad things happen in our lives, the subject of many of her studies and of the book Why God Why? What to do When Life Doesn’t Make Sense.

In her book, Jensen gives the believing reader permission to question God when things go wrong and we don’t understand why. Her primary analogy throughout the book is that of a stove, where questions can go into the front-burner pots, but when we are done asking they need to be moved to the back-burners so that we can go on living our lives on the front-burners, rather than stewing in the questions and being unable to move on. Each of the following chapter presents the reader with a “front-burner truth” about God and our circumstances, and suggests ways in which to put these truths into action in our lives.

Because Jensen has experienced great loss herself, she provides insight into what a journey toward moving on might look like, as well as encouragements through stories of God’s provision for her and her sons. In some places, however, it might seem to someone who is struggling to have faith in God after loss that her experience was easier than theirs may be because she is so strong. In general, however, this book would probably have a positive influence on someone who is struggling with unexpected loss or great change in circumstance.

[Martin Freznell]

I'm so sorry, i never read this book. I have no idea how I landed it a one star. A misclick for sure! I'm sure it's a wonderful book.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this book by a friend from church with whom I had shared some of my concerns and questions about the Word of Faith teaching. My question was not so much, "Why do bad things happen?" as it was "Why shouldn't we expect them to?" I wanted to know from a Word of Faith believer how they would answer people who face trials out of their control.

Although the writer brought out some very good truths that we should focus on while going through trials, she held fast to the idea that trials are never God's will. I think it is dangerous to say that God will never lead you into a trial. There are countless examples in the Bible of people going through trials in order for God to bring them to where He needed them to be for His purpose and for His desire to create a deeper relationship by going up higher and deeper. The writer stated that the only reason we end up grower more intimate with God during trials is because we tend to spend more time in prayer and reading the Bible during hard times (it was for this statement that I could only offer the book a rating of two stars).

In the end, this book left me understanding just as much as when I started about how a word of faith believer would explain why a Christian standing in faith would go through a trial. The "If it's good it's God, and if it's bad it's the devil" stance just leaves so much to be desired, including a more intimate relationship with a God who knows where He's leading you, even if it be through a trial, and who won't let you fall out of His sight.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen shares encouragement from her own experience - her husband died suddenly at age 37. She encourages people to ask God questions, be honest with Him. The important thing, she says, is what you do after you've asked those questions. She encourages trust in God and confidence in His plan for you. She ends each chapter with Scriptures and affirmations.
Karen writes from a Charismatic viewpoint, that God always wants to heal you, that it is never God's will for you to be sick. She fails to address Paul's thorn in the flesh and she does not write about God disciplining those He loves and how He might do that.
See my full critical review at http://bit.ly/14gNquZ.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book and I would highly recommend it to any one who wants an excellent read. I look forward to reading more of this authors work.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My brother in law sent this to me after my husband died unexpectedly. This is a great book for those who have questions.

[Kathy Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently list my husband. He suffered from many health issues resulting from a terrible accident. He laid down his life for another which in turn paralyzed him for 14 years. He was a Christian and never complained. Ioved him deeply This book encouraged me to go on without him and to walk by faith. I have a :) are time comprehending heaven but choose to believe my dear husband is there and that I will see him again but I too am a Christian. The scripture verses were so enlightening and helped restore my faith. I thank the author for writing this book. I feel like she wrote it just for me because the timing was perfect. .

I loved the book. It was the! Perfect book to read at the perfect time. I list my husband one month ago.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why God?: What to Do When Life Doesn't Make Sense

This was an excellent book and I would highly recommend it to any one who wants an excellent read. I look forward to reading more of this authors work.

[Manoj Shrestha]

life is not fair always and comes upon us malice and how we face the situation of that