Walking Through Shadows: Finding hope in a world of pain
by Ken Ham & Carl Wieland
Master Books, 2002
136 pages; Hardcover; $18 Can.

reviewed by Veronica Hoyt

“My sister described my brother’s physical appearance this way: ‘Do you remember those TV programs that showed those horrible pictures of prisoners from the concentration camps? Remember how they looked from starvation? Well, in a way, Robert reminds me of them.’ This was the result of a degenerative brain disease, a type of dementia.... He was so young – early forties – how could this be happening to him?”

Yes, how?

Indeed, how can tragedy, suffering, and heartache happen to so many? We all know of someone who is seriously, even terminally, ill, of parents who have lost children in tragic circumstances, of disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis that devastate millions. How can this happen to so many “innocent” folk? Yes, how?

Walking Through Shadows helps give a clear, Biblical perspective to these questions. Written by Ken Ham and Carl Wieland, this book sees all tragedy in the light of the “big picture” outlined in the Bible, which provides answers and, above all, an unwavering focus on our God. Ham says about this:

[The big picture] has helped me in dealing with the issue of death and suffering. God’s Word tells us clearly where death and sickness originated. We understand we live in a fallen world. Each of us needs to recognize that we are sinful creatures living under a curse because of sin. Death for every human being is inevitable … Every person needs to be spiritually healed. Total healing doesn’t come until we leave this sin-cursed universe. God has a sovereign plan far greater than we could imagine. We don’t know everything – in fact, we know nothing compared to God. Thus, we need to put our faith and trust in God’s Word and the fact that He is in total control.

A littler earlier in the book, Ham stated it a little more bluntly, quoting his (now ill) brother, Robert: “[The apostle] Paul saw illness and he saw sickness as normal (N-O-R-M-A-L). I’d like to underline it with a big felt pen and write it indelibly in every one of our minds. The apostle Paul saw sickness and illness as normal living in a world ruined by sin.” Ham continues: “Although it is abnormal in the sense of not being the way things should have been, were it not for sin – it should be considered ‘normal’ in that sense, in this fallen world. I believe … we need to focus on Christ.”

And, indeed, Walking Through Shadows focuses very much on the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It provides this perspective in the context of two biographical accounts, first by Carl Wieland of God’s care and provision after he experienced a terrible car accident (he needed 56 operations over a period of 7 years), and by Ken Ham of the pain and hope associated with his brother Robert’s decline into dementia (as introduced in the first paragraph of this review).
Interspersed in these biographical accounts are many wise, Biblical perspectives on suffering, pain, and death. Wieland, for example, reflects on aspects of healing and the health-wealth “gospel” that many charismatics believe. He also touches on topics such as whether God is unfair, thankfulness, why the maxim “there’s always someone worse off than me” might not be helpful, and how prayer fits in to God’s sovereignty. Ham adds a very interesting dimension to this book, in that he uses an insightful sermon written prior to these events by his brother, Robert, a pastor, on the topic of pain and suffering.

Walking Through Shadows is a book for anyone: since our world is so full of pain, we all need a clear perspective on suffering. Not only will it help us to deal with our own pain, but it will also help us to minister to others, be they of the faith or outside it. We all need the Gospel of our Lord, and this book presents it in a way that our faith can be strengthened whatever circumstance we may be in. This book could also be a useful gift to an unbeliever – short and very simply written, this book could well help someone who is looking for answers to life’s perplexing questions – someone who is seeking to know more about the Gospel of our Lord.

I’d like to finish this review with an insightful perspective given by Ham about the grief that the separation of death brings to those who are left behind: “We grieve over this separation. How much must God grieve over the separation between us and Him because of our sin! What reminder that we need spiritual healing. And what an indescribable blessing to know that God himself provided all that is needed for this healing – even though we have done nothing to deserve it.”

Indeed, what more can we say? Viewing suffering from an eternal perspective makes all the difference. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3).

Ken Ham and Carl Wieland are both key figures in Answers in Genesis ( www.answersingenesis.org ).

Reformed Perspective - July/August 2005