For These Tough Times

My pile of books to review on this blog has been growing. It's time to get down to business. To begin with I'm reviewing a book for Thomas Nelson Publishers:

Max Lucado’s book For These Tough Times is a short and concise book for when life hits you with a tragedy, a time of suffering, or some other loss.

In just 79 pages, this book looks at the normal questions that arise during times of difficulty (such as “Where is God?”) and reminds us of what a Christian’s faith is built upon and how that knowledge can help us weather the storm of loss and suffering.

Lucado takes time to review the greatness of God, God’s magnificent love for his children, our need to keep our eyes focused on God in the midst of adversity, the history of Satan and the way God turns evil to work for his purposes, the importance of resisting revenge, the importance of being still before God and waiting, the overarching significance of prayer through any difficult time.

Lucado has condensed a large amount of truth into a small book. This can be helpful for those who don’t like to read, yet need to grasp this material. A deep and thoughtful reader may find herself wishing for more elaboration. At times Lucado’s efforts to make a lot of points in a short amount of time leave him resorting to wit, which may seem too light to certain readers for the weighty matters he is discussing. All in all, Lucado sticks to sound and right theology.

This book could be a good beginning for someone needing to study the Christian path through suffering. It could also function as a guide for someone needing words of wisdom and comfort to offer to a friend in hard circumstances.