I told you that I would tell you what kind of handshake Philip Yancey has. Well, he has a firm handshake. I found out firsthand after hearing him speak at the PFI Convocation this week.

The slender author with a short white afro is best known for his book Where is God When it Hurts? He says that one man came up to him on one occasion and said, "Mr. Yancey, I haven't had time to read the book. Can you just tell me the answer?" Well, unpacking the age-old problem of suffering is not something best attempted in a single conversation, or even a speech. But Philip did his best in the hour I heard him speak.

So, where is God when loved one dies? When you lose your job? Or when you lose everything, like Job did?

Of two things we can be sure, Yancey said:

1) God is in His followers, his physical presence on earth. God is in the tears, the prayers, and the letters of Christian friends. He is in His body.

2) God is in disguise. He is in the poor, the naked, the hungry, the prisoner. After all, "whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me."