Good News at Rock Bottom: Finding God When the Pain Goes Deep and Hope Seems Lost

By Ray Ortlund

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Format: Paperback

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Availability: Forthcoming

Expected: Apr 15, 2025

Retail Price: $16.99

Good News at Rock Bottom: Finding God When the Pain Goes Deep and Hope Seems Lost

By Ray Ortlund

... Show All

Meeting the Man of Sorrows Where We Need Him Most

We all long for a life worth living. So when we receive news of a frightening diagnosis, suffer heartbreaking loss in our family life, or get trapped in a cycle of our own sin, we might wonder about God. Where is he when we need him most? With wisdom from Isaiah 57:15, Good News at Rock Bottom helps readers discover that Jesus is hard to find in the comfortable lives we prefer. Instead, he meets us at rock bottom—where he is waiting for us with open arms. 

With grace and empathy, author Ray Ortlund opens a door for readers to go deeper with God and get closer to faithful friends when life is hard to bear. You will discover that, at rock bottom, Jesus is more satisfying than any comfortable life without him.

  • Empathetic: Author Ray Ortlund meets readers with honesty and helps them fall into the arms of Christ amid the painful seasons of life
  • Appeals to Sufferers: Will resonate with anyone who has experienced betrayal, failure, loneliness, or wondered if God even cares
  • Ideal for Individual or Small-Group Use: Questions at the end of each chapter spur discussion with friends and reflection in one’s own heart

Author:

Ray Ortlund

Ray Ortlund is the president of Renewal Ministries, the pastor to pastors at Immanuel Church in Nashville, and a canon theologian with the Anglican Church in North America. He is the author of several books, including Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel; The Death of Porn; and the Preaching the Word commentaries on Isaiah and Proverbs. He is also a contributor to the ESV Study Bible. Ray and his wife, Jani, have been married for fifty years.

Product Details

Format: Paperback
Page Count: 160
Size: 5.0 in x 7.0 in
Weight: 10.0 ounces
ISBN-10: 1-4335-9886-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-4335-9886-9
ISBN-UPC: 9781433598869
Case Quantity: 52
Published: April 15, 2025

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Way Up High, Way Down Low
Chapter 2: Betrayed 
Chapter 3: Trapped 
Chapter 4: Lonely 
Chapter 5: Dying
 
Conclusion
Acknowledgments

Endorsements

“I know pain, inside and out. I live intimately with its brutal assault, and at times it almost convinces me that all hope is lost. That’s when I reach out for the kind of rock-solid hope that is able to survive the worst of times. Honestly, it’s there. It’s available. And it’s meant for you. Ray Ortlund tenderly explains how to find and embrace it in his excellent book Good News at Rock Bottom. I love Ray’s style of writing—always accessible, believable, and gentle on the heart. The book you hold in your hands is extraordinary, and I envision that, by the last page, you will find the hope-filled release and relief you are yearning for.”
Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center

“Simeon had been waiting for the consolation of Israel, but what he found was Jesus (Luke 2:25), and that consolation from Christ soaks every page of this book. With understanding and tenderness, Ray Ortlund draws us back again and again to the all-sufficiency and matchless compassion of Christ. This is pastoral theology at its best—real, biblical, and deeply comforting.”
Sam Allberry, Associate Pastor, Immanuel Nashville; author, One with My Lord

“Whenever I feel I’m hitting rock bottom, Ray Ortlund is one of the first people I call. He doesn’t cheerily wave away pain. He’s seen what lurks in the darkness. Yet I always walk away hopeful and grateful and feeling alive again. That’s because he knows the light that shines in the darkness. Reading this piercing book, you will experience the counsel of one who knows how bad it can get and who can help you see how good it can be.”
Russell Moore, Editor in Chief, Christianity Today; author, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America

“Ray Ortlund writes these words as a friend in the trenches with you, desperately needing God to be who he says he is in Isaiah 57:15. The night before I read this book, I was kept awake by loneliness, guilt, shame, and fear. The night after I read this, I was kept awake by the impossibility of processing how much God loves me. Good News at Rock Bottom was a love letter directly from God to me, through Ray. Trust me, read this! I’m already reading it again, with my wife and kids!”
Walker Hayes, singer; songwriter

“This gospel-saturated book has been so encouraging to me! I found myself nodding on every page as Ray Ortlund describes the pain of betrayal, the isolation of loneliness, the separation of sin, and the beautiful way God draws near to the brokenhearted. Ortlund underscores and illuminates this stunning truth: When we reach rock bottom, we find God is closer than we ever imagined and better than we ever dreamed. I highly recommend this book!”
Vaneetha Rendall Risner, author, Desperate for Hope and Walking through Fire