Christian Book Notes

Guthrie, Nancy.  Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow.  Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2009.  166 pp.  $14.99.  Purchase at Westminster for $9.89.

Introduction

For readers here at Christian Book Notes, Nancy Guthrie needs no introduction.  She has edited two excellent, seasonal devotionals:  Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross and Come, Thou Long Expect Jesus.  You can read both of my reviews here.

This particular book was sent to me I believe back in June of 2009.  I had plans to read it in July, but God had other plans.  That month was when my daughter was born with all of her difficulties.  You can read quick posts about this time here, here, and here.  My daughter is doing well though we still have a long road ahead of us (she was recently diagnosed with Stickler’s Disease-a genetic disorder), and we are expecting baby number 5 on her first birthday!

As I was saying, I had every intention of reading this book until my wife picked it up and read it while Sarah was in the NIC-U.  This book was a gift from God at a time in our lives when we did not know what was going to happen next (do we ever know?).  Therefore, the review that follows is not like a normal review.  Rather, it is my wife explaining how this book ministered to her during this time.  The review is being posted at this time because, quite honestly, the book ended up in a nightstand drawer and I forgot all about it!

Review

Hi, I’m Krista. I don’t write books reviews. As a matter of fact, I usually only write in perfect manuscript penmanship little words for my son to copy so please bear with me.

In her book, Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow, Nancy Guthrie says at one point after losing one of her children to a deadly metabolic disorder that her pastor challenged her by saying, “It’s at times like these when you have to really ask yourself, ‘Is the gospel really true? Do I really believe what I say I believe? Do I really trust God?’” I remember during my pregnancy with our daughter having a conversation with a friend about the birth of our third son. He was born amid some rather frightening complications that nearly cost us both our lives. We were later told that another 24 hours in the womb and he would have been stillborn.

As I shared this with my friend, I said, “God is so good.” She agreed but then said something she had been struggling to get her mind around was whether or not  God would have still been good even if our son had died. At the time, my response was an almost immediate, “Absolutely.”

While reading this book, staring at my daughter and all the other babies in the NICU, I was really challenged with this. It caused me to do some soul-searching to determine if I really believed the gospel to be true. Did I really believe God was good even in the midst of difficult circumstances? If my daughter didn’t survive would God still be good?

Nancy Guthrie’s book challenged me with scripture showing how Christ suffered, how He understands our pain and our sorrow and how ultimately He loves us enough to be far more concerned with our souls than with the circumstances of this fleeting life. Taking the scripture presented in this book and then turning to the Bible itself gave me comfort and calm but ultimately re-affirmed to me that even when times are difficult and we are hurting and suffering God is good and the gospel is absolutely true. Christ is sufficient no matter the circumstances and we can find rest and comfort in that.

Recommendation

Obviously, this book is highly recommended.  My wife continues to draw from Nancy’s ministry and writings.  We have offered this book to people who are suffering through tragedies and tough times in general.  Every person that we know who has read this book has said it was “just what they needed.”