Are You Torn?

     Suffering happens to everyone.  Alright, discussion's over and we can all go home!  Yes, true.  Suffering happens to everyone, but the question is how do we all deal with it?  Torn by Jud Wilhite was written to address this question and provide a God-centered way to address it.  Written from the perspective of a theological narrator whose discourse is supplemented with examples of people who have experienced suffering and how they've coped with it, all this is done ultimately to come to the conclusion that we don't know why suffering happens to each individual but we do know that God will always use it ultimately to His glory.
     Wilhite does a great job of tying Biblical perspective to current setting.  Stories of suffering straight out of the Bible provide an application to life, and alongside them Wilhite adds references to pop culture events (YouTube, Death Cab for Cutie, and Hopkins's The Edge for example).  What I have an issue with is the fact that this book ends too neatly.  For all the practicality that Wilhite provides for how to deal with suffering, it would seem that he glosses over or makes it seem too simple.  For example, in his final pre-conclusion chapter, "Learning to Forgive," a much more powerful thing to analyze would have been what happens when the one suffering is upset with God and how to "forgive" when he or she feels that they have been abandoned by the Creator.  He starts to leave the door cracked for issues like this but sadly it would seem that a lot of the messy issues he sidesteps.
     Overall, Torn is a well-written book full of practical advice for the Christian who is in pain and suffering.  For the issues that I have, I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone who would like a book to broaden their view on issues of the Christian walk.

I received my copy of this book free though Multnomah's Blogging for Books program.  I was not obligated to write a favorable review; the opinions are my own.