book Review: Hearing Jesus Speak into your sorrow

I recently came across the concept of Book Review Bloggers, this is a deal between blog writers and book publishers whereby the publisher sends the blogger a copy of a book that I read and then I write a review and post it on my blog, this seems like a fair deal to me so I decided to sign up to a couple such publishers, this is the first review for one of those publishers.

Title: Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow

Author: Nancy Guthrie

Publisher: Tyndale

ISBN: 978-1-4143-2548-4

When I chose to receive this book to review I choose it because the write-up suggested that this was not simply a ‘nice book’ that would seek to placate the reader or give the reader ‘nice’ verses to hold onto or the cliché lines I have come to know over the past few years but would instead turn to the depths of scripture and seek to provide honest real answers to honest real thoughts, emotions and problems. Just goes to prove the old saying ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ is still true.

I was really disappointed when I opened the package and saw the book as, based purely from the cover, it looked like it was just going to be full of sickly verses and clichés, just what I didn’t wanted! However that disappointment didn’t last for long as I got stuck into the content of the book it touched base with me at many levels.

This book is written for those who have been through, or are going through, tough times in their lives and who need to hear Jesus speak into their situation, Guthrie is a woman who has experienced tragedy and sorrow in her own life, this tragedy and sorrow has caused her to turn to the scriptures and dig deep to find meaning in the situations she has faced.

Having lost 2 children to a rare genetic condition, both less than 2 years old, she has experienced some of the most difficult pain any mother, or father, could imagine, yet she has come out of it with a stronger and more balanced faith than ever, what could so easily have crushed her faith has enabled her faith to grown and blossom.

I read this book at a time when I was going through, just coming out of, a very severe bout of depression, one which was just about as serious and deep as it gets and almost cost me my life.

Reading this book has not been easy, there have been times when I have felt that God was piercing my heart with some of the truths revealed in this book but I believe that the perspective this book has given me has played at least a small part in helping bring me out of depression, re-focusing my minds and giving me new perspective, in ways that I had not expected.

Because of my depression, my concentration span has not been great recently however I have not found this to be an issue with this book, it is the kind of book best read slowly, a chapter or 2 at a time, to allow the truths to sink in and each chapter stands on its own so there is no loss of thread to contend with.

This book is written from a very deep and theological perspective and yet I feel can be read by anyone as it touches the reader on many different levels, as I went through the book there were a number of theological issues it raised in my own mind and yet at this stage I felt unable to delve deeper into these matters but not delving did not in any way detract from the book, at some stage I will go back over the book and pick up on these themes at a much deeper level.

Guthrie turns to the words of Jesus to seek answers to the big questions raised in her own life, questions that I have no doubt are common for anyone who has suffered loss or pain, but she does not turn to the scriptures that you might expect, she finds her source of encouragement and comfort in scriptures which you might least expect but expounds them very well and brings her depth of theological knowledge to these scriptures to really give the reader something to think about.

At the conclusion to each chapter there was a ‘letter’ written as if from God to the reader, this ‘letter’ is a paraphrase of several (mainly well known) bible verses put together in a highly readable format, this could have ventured on the cliché and well meaning words of comfort and indeed still could do (in my opinion) if taken out of the context of the preceding chapter, however I felt that she walked the balance here just right.

I for one want to thank Guthrie for writing this book and Tyndale for giving me the privilege of reviewing it (not the kind of book I would normally have picked up, especially from the cover) as it has impacted my life.

I will conclude this review with one paragraph from the very end of this book ‘In the midst of your heartache, Jesus will hold you in his arms, he will teach you, and he will speak into your sorrow. Hear his promise to be there in the days ahead to help shoulder the load of sorrow in your heart’ it is my belief that this book will enable you to realise those words in your life.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has know what it is to suffer, to experience deep sorrow to suffer pain and loss, if you are seeking answers to the difficult questions in your life this book will not answer them all but it will point you in the right direction and enable you to change your perspective and your thinking in those areas.

David Cavanagh

Book Review Blogger for Tyndale Publishers.