God of the Gaps
A Chaplain’s Stories of Healing, Restoration and Transformation
by Stennoy Stephenson
God of the Gaps takes us into some of the most extreme of human experiences: a family saying goodbye to a loved one; an emergency room visit that has shattered multiple lives; a terminal diagnosis; estranged relationships as life ticks away; a search for hope after a life lived without God that is suddenly coming to an end. These are confronting stories—and more so, if that was all there was to them. But we do not go there alone.
In God of the Gaps, we are invited into these moments in the company of an experienced and compassionate hospital chaplain. Dr Stennoy (Steve) Stephenson is Manager of Spiritual Care Services and Director of Mission Integration at Sydney Adventist Hospital. He shares these stories from his ministry, together with reflections on the stories from biblical and ministry perspectives.
As we encounter these stories, we also find that God is already there ahead of us. Indeed, it is in these most extreme human moments—“the gaps” in our human understanding and resources—that sometimes God appears most real. And Dr Stephenson also urges that we can be people who meet and minister to others in these gaps as agents of this God.
“The ministry of presence is especially meaningful,” writes Dr Stephenson in the conclusion to God of the Gaps, “in difficult circumstances—such as those encountered by the individuals in this book—where there is limited ability to provide practical help but where a supportive presence can make a profound difference. . . . When this principle is played out, the God of the gaps reveals Himself in and through our discipleship.”
Through these gripping and compelling stories, God of the Gaps will deepen your understanding of the important role that chaplains play—and an invitation to be meaningfully present in the lives of those around us as representatives of our God of help, hope and healing.
God of the Gaps is available now from Adventist bookshops in Australia and New Zealand, or online.
