The Invisible Hand

I had just pulled my car into the garage and stepped out of it when the door to the kitchen opened and my daughter, Sherrie, appeared. Her face was ashen, and there was a look of horror in her eyes. She rushed into my arms, blurting out the words,

"Oh, Daddy! My baby is dead!"

I held her against my chest as she sobbed and sobbed.

As a dad with a daughter and now a few grandchildren, I'd have to say this paragraph was as attention grabbing as any first paragraph of any novel I've ever read. 

But...this is no novel. This is the first paragraph of a book about theology, the theology about God's providence in the lives of ordinary people in suffering. Sherrie is the real-life daughter of author and theologian R.C. Sproul and the story of the lose of his daughter's child, his own grandchild, is as faith shaking at first blush as it is riveting. 

What can anyone say to a loved one who has just experienced such a loss?

Like anyone acquainted with evangelical Christianity, I have known Dr. Sproul as a well known and respected theologian. Until I read this book, aptly subtitled, Do all things really work together for good?, I had no idea what a marvelous story teller and writer he is. I was a little surprised but actually very comforted by the incredible intensity he brings to this Biblically honest yet empathetic study of what it is that is really going on behind the scenes when human beings suffer. 

"Because God is invisible to us, we often fail to see his active presence in human affairs."

The Invisible Hand is good theology but it is not just good theology. This book "is designed...chiefly from the examination of concrete experiences of the flesh-and-blood people..." 

From the heart breaking tales of pain experienced by Moses, Jacob, and Joseph to the worst train wreck in the history of Amtrak, the crash of the Sunset Limited, Sproul recognizes the "horrible tragedy" that such events are on the human plane of history, yet he faithfully reminds us of the vertical plane, a plane on which there are no accidents, a plane on which all things work together for good. 

If you remain confused, hurt, astonished by stuff that is happening to you, your family, your friends...read this book. 

It may just... Change Your Life!