Customer Reviews

Brokenness: How God Redeems Pain and Suffering

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My mother has been quadrapelegic for about 20 years. She has faith that someday God will heal her... even if she has to wait for that in Heaven. She heard something about this book and asked me to get it for her. It took a while, but finally found it on Amazon.com. She said when she starting reading it, she profoundly disagreed with much of it and proceeded to give it a rather disgusted throw across the room. Well, she said something kept pulling her back to it. She read it and only then started to understand what the author intended to say. Since then she has been encouraging everyone she knows to read it. Many of us are 'broken' if not physicially, then spiritually or emotionally. Its up to us to find our brokenness and begin to heal.

This is an amazing book. My duaghter was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor this year, and I have been personally broken in ways that I never could imagine. This book has been the best I have read for understanding why God allows such difficult circumstances.

Pastor Solomon's story of his daughter demonstrates more than just a theological understanding of what brokenness is, and how brokeness is used by God.

When I was a new Christ follower (over 35 years ago) a godly woman gave me Roy Hession's book "The Calvary Road." That book has impacted my life more than any other apart from the Bible. This April 2005 when I read "Brokenness" by Lon Solomon, I knew I was holding another powerful tool that would be used mightily by the Lord. In this book the writer pulls from the classic teachings of biblical scholars of old and brings those quotations into our contemporary lives as he weaves his story. The truths contained in this book instruct, encourage and challenge us as we go continuously through times of brokenness as individuals.
Camilla L. Seabolt, Executive Director, Community Bible Study.

This book was awesome, it ministered to my heart in a way no other book I've read has touched my life. I've already bought 10 additional copies to pass out to family and friends. I could relate to the stories about his daughters special needs, as I too have a son that had a near drowning accident and suffered brain damage and has a lot of special needs.

I received it just before my son came down with pneumonia and went into the PICU on a ventilator. Reading it during this tough time in my life was just what I needed to keep my focus on God's faithfulness, knowing that He is always in control of all the circumstances of our lives.

we are all broken, but we don't all know it. Moreover Jesus is the one who helps us in our brokenness.

This is a brilliant book. I loved it and highly recommend it.

Pastor Lon Solomon captures the essential aspects of growing in one's faith through the events in our lives which leave us broken, and therefore open to God's plan for our lives. Lon uses the riveting story of learning to love, accept and care for his daughter Jill and her life-long struggle for existance. Lon shares the blessings he has received and the growth he has experienced through the brokeness in his life. I have shared this book with a pastor in crisis, and a fellow believer going through a painful divorce. I need to get more copies to share as they have kept the copies I lent them! This is a must read for every believer.

This book is so God. Only God could possibly redeem the broken parts of our life and use them to make us whole. What a contradiction in terms, but Lon says that it is imperative to come to this place and that it is essential in order for us to be free and effective for the Kingdom.

He references people in the Bible who had lived ordinary lives until God allowed them to be broken.

This book is just what I needed and I have passed on several copies to others close to me who are suffering in some way. I enjoyed the content very much and am still wrestling with Lon's chapter that addresses whether I want the 'Product' more than the "Process." What was he doing, reading my mind?

Have you gone through trying times, and wondered what God's plan is or was? Are you going through them now?

I have. There was a time about 9 years ago that I wondered what in the world God was trying to teach me. How in the heck could I possibly be in this mess? I don't *feel* like I'm such a bad person that God would punish me like this, so what the heck is God doing?

Brokenness: How God Redeems Pain and Suffering by Lon Solomon answer these questions. My favorite analogy is the electric wire - if the wire has too much resistance, electricity won't flow through it. Likewise, a proud human spirit has a lot of resistance, and God cannot use such a person. Once the person is broken in spirit and recognizes that everything belongs to God and that God is supreme, then God can use him.

Looking through biblical characters for examples of this, Job immediately comes to mind. But the author also spends quite a bit of time on Moses, comparing his earlier life in the service of Pharaoh with his later life as God's servant. Other characters such as Peter when he denied Jesus are also discussed. But the most powerful example is Lon Solomon himself. He describes that as a pastor of a growing church how his life was turned upside down with the birth of his daughter. After hundreds of seizures that left her severely handicapped, Lon was at a loss as to God's plan. It derailed all of his retirement plans with his wife, put a severe strain on his marriage, and took all of his time caring for his daughter.

But then the author realizes God's plan - and shows how God's plan in Lon's life and his daughter's life have left them both blessed and broken - and doubly blessed *because* he is broken. Lon has a deep appreciation and gratitude for the service he is blessed to provide to his daughter, and how his daughter is blessed with all those that love her, and how God turned Lon's inward-focus to a focus on God. The church is growing faster than ever, but that's no longer Lon's goal. All along, it was all for God's glory.

This is a must-read; God speaks to us when we are truly desperate for Him, and that only happens when we are broken. If you're in high spirits you can pray, "NowIlaymedowntosleepamen," but if you are hurting, then you truly know what it is like to plead with God and to depend on Him for everything. Your prayers *have* to be different. If you're hurting and wondering, let Lon Solomon explain with scripture why you are hurting and what God is doing in your life.

Michael @ <a href="http://chasingthewind.net">Chasing the Wind</a>

If any of you read "The Purpose Driven Life" book, this is on the same level. I have to say that I went through a period of my life where God broke me but it was so hard to understand why and the meaning behind it all. Lon Solomon has been through everything and has come out with such wisdom and humbleness from God. I promise you will love this book and your relationship with God will improve.

Lon Solomon's ministry has grown tremendously in recent years, and for good reason. His teachings are without a doubt Biblical, honest, and down to earth. I have attended his church, McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia, many a time and have always been highly impressed with his unwavering presentation of the true Gospel message.

Lon's book, "Brokenness: How God Redeems Pain and Suffering," is no different. We all go through hard times in life, whether emotionally, physically, or psychologically. Sometimes it can press in and become almost unbearable. But it's good to know there's a resource out there to help us understand WHY God sometimes allows these tragedies in our lives and His purpose behind that suffering - and Lon's book is just that. Lon knows what he's talking about - he's been there.

If you want to understand why God is taking so long in His answer, why it has to be so painful and difficult in the process, and why He allowed it in the first place, then you need this book.

Daniel J. Gansle
Christian Author/Senior Technical Writer