Finding God In Hidden Places

Encounter God in the Unexpected Joni Eareckson Tada, bestselling author, artist, and international advocate for people with disabilities, invites you to join her on a deeply personal journey as she explores the presence of a holy God in hidden places. Stories from Joni’s life shine in this collection of gathered memories. As Joni shares honestly about her sorrows and joys, you will recall quiet, out-of-the-way moments in your own life when God was present—both in happy and sad times. Words of encouragement, comfort, and insight will leave your soul satisfied and longing to be closer to a loving Father. Find encouragement and comfort in Joni’s words and experience. When you train your eye to see God’s work, you will find the Savior everywhere you look.

The traces of God can be found in the most unexpected places--an Atlanta slum, a pod of whales off the coast of Alaska, the prisons of Peru and Chile, the plays of Shakespeare, a health club in Chicago--yet many Christians have not only missed seeing God, they’ve overlooked opportunities to make him visible to those most in need of hope. In this enlightening book author Philip Yancey serves as an insightful tour guide for those willing to look beyond the obvious, pointing out glimpses of the eternal where few might think to look. Whether finding God among the newspaper headlines, within the church, or on the job, Yancey delves deeply into the commonplace and surfaces with rich spiritual insight. Finding God in Unexpected Places takes readers from Ground Zero to the Horn of Africa, and each stop along the way reveals footprints of God, touches of his truth and grace that prompt readers to search deeper within their own lives for glimpses of transcendence.

In this eloquent account of her current struggle with physical pain, Joni Eareckson Tada offers her perspective on divine healing, God’s purposes, and what it means to live with joy. Over four decades ago, a diving accident left Joni a quadriplegic. Today, she faces a new battle: unrelenting pain. The ongoing urgency of this season in her life has caused Joni to return to foundational questions about suffering and God’s will. A Place of Healing is not an ivory-tower treatise on suffering. It’s an intimate look into the life of a mature woman of God. Whether readers are enduring physical pain, financial loss, or relational grief, Joni invites them to process their suffering with her. Together, they will navigate the distance between God’s magnificent yes and heartbreaking no—and find new hope for thriving in-between.

Through vignettes of vulnerable holy moments in her life, the author offers a lesson plan for the pursuit of holiness. Illustrations.

You were born to make an impact in this world and you know it. You feel it deep down in your bones. Apathy is your nemesis and your hunger to change the world keeps you up at night. But no matter how deep this hunger growls, we can only make a meaningful impact if we are rooted in Jesus. And here’s the thing: God is not interested in developing your vision first. He is interested in developing you. In Rooted, Banning Liebscher takes us to the life of David to show how God expands our root system in the hidden places before leading us to where we all desire to go, the visible world. It was in a field of prayerful devotion, a season of serving, and a cave of community that God prepared David for his crown, the same way God prepares us. Take a look at your own life. Are you embracing God’s process, the sometimes painstaking and maddening process? When we can release ourselves to God we will find that we can thrive while He develops us, rather than succumb to discouragement. Whatever your age or season of life, it takes immense courage to slow down enough to let God grow a root system in your life so that you can bear fruit that remains. You are where you are because God has planted you there. Discover what it looks like to embrace His process so you can do what He has called you to, change the world.

Grace. Sometimes it's hard to see. And even harder to receive. When you're hurt or angry or confused or doubtful, grace can seem as hard to grasp as sky. But actually, it's as real and solid as stones: tangible, weighty, something to hold on to, a way through streams of pain, shame, abuse. In these pages L.L. Barkat shares her own painful, powerful story with us. Weaving in truth from Scripture, words from other writers and stories of people who've come alongside her in her journey, she shows us the unexpected ways and places she's discovered grace: grace that has helped her open her heart to love, discover a way past fear, find freedom from shame. Her story will help you find the rock of God's grace in the midst of your own broken, hard places. And his grace will give you a new story to tell.

Hidden Treasure, Finding God in Unexpected Places, is about the author's journey from reluctant do-gooder to leader of a successful international ministry that now seeks to replicate that success in other parts of Guatemala. Although she was a Christian when she first started serving the poor, her faith deepened and her relationship with God became the driving force for her life of service.

“Rabbi Riemer offers us the kind of wisdom that we need in order to survive and thrive,” writes Dr. Bernie Siegel, best-selling author of a dozen books about spirituality and healing. The late Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel adds, “Jack Riemer’s words are songs of hope and faith. Listen to them as I do.” Widely sought after as a master storyteller and teacher, Riemer is one of the most frequently quoted rabbis in the U.S. That’s because of the winding paths he takes in describing the relevance of timeless Jewish wisdom in our modern world. What do a professional baseball player, Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry box, a hurricane, a garbage dump and a blue blazer hanging in your closet have to do with each other? They’re all turning points in Riemer’s stories that lead us toward universal questions we all confront at some point in life, including: Is there a dream that gives meaning to your life? What are our duties to the people we love? How do you make a decision when you’re caught between two conflicting values? And, what would you do if you found out that your time on this earth was almost up? Reflecting on Riemer’s wisdom about life, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor writes that the rabbi “is obviously a person with much understanding of the human situation.” Word of warning: The stories in this book may surprise you and perhaps make you chuckle, but they could change your life, as well.