Nancy Guthrie - Holding on to Hope: A Pathway Through Suffering to the Heart of God

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are saying about
Holding On to Hope

You hold in your hand a treasure that was mined in a dark and frightening place. With transparent honesty, Nancy unwraps the joys and sorrows of her life. This is a book about life and our God, who holds us in all the moments of this life.

SHEILA WALSH

Keynote speaker with Women of Faith

Holding On to Hope reads easy, runs deep, and enriches the heart! If you are stymied about Gods goodness amidst lifes heartaches, then this books for you.

JONI EARECKSON TADA

Joni and Friends

Few people have lived and continue to live as deep a firsthand experience of pain and loss as Nancy Guthrie. For that reason alone her Christian reading of the story of Job should lay special claim on readers themselves undergoing suffering. But there are other inducements: the clarity, grit, and honesty with which Guthrie explains how she has maintained hope and deepened faith where most would find only heartbreak.

DAVID VAN BIEMA

Time magazine

Only God could orchestrate such events. And only God could give the Guthrie family the faith and courage to live them. May He use this story to strengthen us all.

MAX LUCADO

Nancy Guthries book offers hurting people companionship as well as encouragement to pursue God in the midst of their suffering. Pastors can recommend it with confidence that it will make a difference.

DR. ED YOUNG

Pastor of Second Baptist Church, Houston

If you want someone to know they are not alone in their pain and help them understand where God is in the midst of their pain, Holding On to Hope is the best resource available. While the world questions why God allows loss and pain, Nancy shows us how to face it. Read this book, recommend this book, and hope that just a portion of her courage and faith rub off on you.

STEVE ARTERBURN

New Life Ministries

Its rare to find a book that combines insight, sensitivity, practicality, and hope.... This one does.

H. NORMAN WRIGHT

Author and counselor

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Holding On to Hope

Copyright 2002, 2004, 2015 by Nancy Guthrie. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph copyright andreiuc88/Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Hope Guthrie photo by Micael-Rene

Gabriel Guthrie photo by Micael-Rene

Edited by Lisa A. Jackson

Designed by Ron C. Kaufmann

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. (Some quotations may be from the 2015 edition of the NLT.) Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version,NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Guthrie, Nancy.
Holding on to hope : a pathway through suffering to the heart of God / Nancy Guthrie.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4143-1296-5
1. Suffering Religious aspects Christianity. 2. Bible. O.T. Job Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Guthrie, Nancy. I. Title.
BV4909.G88 2002
248.86 dc21 2002000711

Build: 2021-04-21 15:12:19 EPUB 3.0

O N S EPTEMBER 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airliners, ramming two of the planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The entire world watched in horror as the towers erupted into gigantic fireballs, then imploded until nothing was left of the 110-story, glass-and-steel structures except soot, dust, and a six-story-high pile of smoldering rubble.

Even before the dust settled, the heroic rescue effort began as thousands of people systematically started combing through the debris to find the survivors. One rescuer told how he had climbed down into a hole in the twisted steel and rubble, extending his arm even farther to shine his flashlight into the darkness, when out of the dusty blackness a hand reached up and grabbed his! He was so startled he almost dropped his flashlight and let go of the hand! But instead, he reached back for someone to grab his hand, then someone grabbed that persons hand, until a human chain was formed and the man trapped in the pile of debris was pulled to safety.

In our world today, there are many people who are trapped in the debris of despair, depression, and doubt; or in the rubble of broken relationships; or in the twisted maze of suffering and pain. God has uniquely equipped Nancy Guthrie as a rescuer to shine the light of Gods truth into the blackest night of confusion and grief, hopelessness and helplessness. Framing the testimony of her own suffering within the classic biblical story of Job, Nancy draws a magnificent picture of triumphant victory through faith in Jesus Christ.

In a world where so much attention has been focused on a Christian message of health, wealth, and prosperity, Holding On to Hope is like a beacon of Light, drawing the reader to God and God alone.

My prayer is that God will use this book to rescue you from the depths of being buried alive in the debris and rubble of your own life experience. And I pray also that your feet will be planted on the solid ground of his Word, setting your spirit free to soar in the rarefied atmosphere of genuine worship. God bless you as you grasp Nancys hand and allow her to guide you on your own path of suffering that leads to the heart of God.

T O A NNE G RAHAM L OTZ, who helped me see Gods perspective. It was a very important mission. Thank you for walking through it with me.

To Ernie and Pauline Owen, who see me through rose-colored glasses and never cease to believe in me.

To Dan and Sue Johnson, for taking the time to care so deeply and for helping us to find the answers to the questions.

To all those who so faithfully and unselfishly served me Mary Grace, Mary Bess, Joanna, Julie, Gigi, Lori, Jan, Angela, and the Coates women, to name a few. Im forever bankrupt to repay you.

To Allen Arnold, for giving me so much time and input, and for wanting to buy the first copy.

To everyone in the Knox group, and to Jana and Pamela, for giving them a voice.

To Mom, Dad, Rita, and Wink, who suffered doubly by losing their granddaughter and watching their daughter and son lose a daughter. You are the worlds best grandparents.

To the Group: Buchanans, Davises, Hodges, MacKenzies, Baughers, Blackburns, Yarboroughs, Pfaehlers, and, of course, the glue that holds us together Evelyn. Thanks for laughing with us and crying with us and meeting our needs before we knew we had them.