God Meets Us in Our Suffering: Hope and Encouragement for Those Journeying Through Cancer - Paperback

by Rolf A. Jacobson (Author), Karl N. Jacobson (Contribution by), Michael Pancoast (Contribution by)

A cancer diagnosis changes everything.

Fear, uncertainty, and suffering become daily realities in the midst of cancer--not just for patients but also for families, friends, and caregivers. Where is God in this?

In God Meets Us in Our Suffering, three pastors who journeyed through cancer together share their deeply personal stories. With honesty, compassion, and humor, they offer theologically rich reflections on illness and hope. This book explores how

● we can navigate doubt and find strength in the theology of the cross;
● God meets us in suffering with grace and power;
● Psalm 23 guides us through uncertainty and suffering; and
● laughter, love, and community can sustain us in the darkest moments.

For those living with a serious illness and those journeying alongside them, this book offers comfort, courage, and a renewed trust in God's faithfulness.

Back Jacket

"Beautiful, heartrending, hope-filled, laugh-out-loud funny"

A cancer diagnosis changes everything. Fear, uncertainty, and suffering become daily realities--not just for patients but also for families, friends, and caregivers.

In God Meets Us in Our Suffering, three pastors who journeyed through cancer together reflect on how God meets us in suffering with grace and power, offering comfort, courage, and a renewed trust in God's faithfulness.

"With luminous wisdom and wry humor, the authors reflect on faithfulness--divine and human--and reveal how, even in suffering, God meets us with unanticipated grace."
--Kate Bowler, Duke Divinity School; author of Everything Happens for a Reason

"A most heartfelt, honest, personal, practical, faithful, and funny book on how even human suffering can be a God-given opportunity to fall more deeply in love with God."
--Will Willimon, Duke Divinity School; United Methodist bishop, retired; author of Accidental Preacher: A Memoir

"Beautiful, heartrending, hope-filled, laugh-out-loud funny."
--Deanna A. Thompson, author of Glimpsing Resurrection: Cancer, Trauma, and Ministry

"This book will serve as a companion for anyone who has ever wondered where God is when life falls apart--and the answer, beautifully rendered here, is 'Right here with us.'''
--Tripp Fuller, founder and host of the Homebrewed Christianity podcast

Author Biography

Rolf A. Jacobson (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is professor of Old Testament and Alvin N. Rogness Chair of Scripture, Theology, and Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. A survivor of childhood cancer, he has lived with disability for more than 40 years and speaks widely on faith and suffering.
Karl Jacobson (1969-2024; PhD, Providence Theological School) was a Lutheran pastor, cancer survivor, and theologian known for his deep love of the Psalms.
Michael Pancoast (MDiv, Luther Seminary), a cancer survivor, is associate pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Anoka, Minnesota.