Adult-curriculum editor Carl Simmons reviews a resource that helps the hurting and doubting to understand they're not alone - and shows them in a big way.

• Brian Jones. Second Guessing God: Hanging on When You Can't See His Plan. Textbook, 224p., $12.99. Group member discussion guide, 48p., $6.99. Standard Publishing.

"I want to know how the authors got there. I want to hear about those sleepless nights, agonizing in despair. What I want to read is a book written by someone who is bold enough to list all his unanswered questions but is still willing to die for his faith." -- Brian Jones, Second Guessing God

Read that above quote again. Because in Second Guessing God, Brian Jones lives up to his own expectations. His book is a reassuring clasp around the shoulder from someone who's been there and tells you, in no uncertain terms: It's OK to doubt. It's OK to hurt. And it's VERY OK to wonder where God is and why he doesn't just fix it. Not least of all, because God will use all those moments in ways you can't yet imagine, and may never understand. And that's OK, too.

And lest we think he hasn't been there, the very first sentence of Second Guessing God reads as follows: "The year before I graduated from seminary, I lost my faith in God." (Obviously, and good for us, he regained it.) Thankfully, he doesn't unduly linger on this episode, although he does tell us how he made it back.

The most important parts of this book - and there's a lot of them here - are those moments of faith-filled risk where God has clearly been "working upstream," often without our being able to see it. Consistently, Jones ties it back to the idea that God is preparing to use us to reach out to the hurting, doubting, and hopeless among us - that all this terrific anguish and pain we're suffering through isn't just for our "benefit."

Which is also to say, it's a swift kick in the pants for those of us who want to pull back from the rest of the world because of our own hurts and misunderstandings. If you want to experience God's presence, Jones recommends, go where others are hurting and in need of God, because He's already there for them and you just might be the "Jesus with skin on" who helps them realize that. And again, you'll find God meeting your own deepest needs as you reach out.

Now, to the study guide: It's well-assembled and helpful to the less experienced small-group leader, but if I haven't sold you on the book already, you're not going to buy it for this piece, as it doesn't add all that much to the book (and in fact, liberally quotes from it). There is an additional section to each lesson which studies a specific passage of Scripture relating to that week's chapter, and it does a good job of moving the group toward application. That said, an experienced small-group leader could accomplish the same things without the guide.

Still, if you're pressed for time, would like to give group members materials to help them journal their thoughts as they work through the book, or really aren't that experienced a small-group leader yet, the guide will prove helpful.

Either way, get the book. If not for yourself, then for someone who really needs to hear this message right now.