DAVID ADAMS reads US author Katie Faris’ ‘He Will Be Enough’…
Katie Faris
He Will Be Enough: How God Takes You by the Hand through Your Hardest Days
The Good Book Company, US, 2022
ISBN-13: 978-1784987503
What does it mean to live as a Christian when the life that you know, the plans that you have for the future, suddenly and irrevocably change?
Kate Faris has experienced just that, seeing her life change in an instant when she was informed that three of her four children had a serious genetic condition known as Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.
In He Will Be Enough, Faris draws on her own experience to explore what faith means when life doesn’t go to plan and things as we know them are upended, never to be the same again.
As she writes in the opening pages: “The question I was faced with on that day, and on many days since, was this: Will Jesus be enough, even now? Even when I don’t understand? Even when the future I mapped out has been upended? Even when I’m in the middle of a story I wouldn’t have written this way?” Or, put in simpler terms, “Will God really be enough?”
This book, which features a foreword from Joni Eareckson Tada, is Faris’ answer to that question. In 20 separate reflections, Faris recounts stories from her own experience and those of people around her and reflects on how God’s Word – everything from the Old Testament books of Job and Daniel to James’ discussion on prayer in the New Testament – has spoken into her life and those of others at the times when she – and they – have needed it most.
With chapters written around themes ranging from isolation during periods of suffering to waiting on God and praying for healing (and what happens when the result isn’t what you’d like), Faris doesn’t shy away from hard questions in the book. Nor does she sugar-coat what she really felt when going through hard times.
“Despite being a Christian since childhood, there have been months, if not years, when I was more aware of my trials than God’s presence with me in them,” she writes. “As one who is naturally inclined to see a glass as half-empty rather than half-full, it’s been a fight to see evidence of God’s grace. Along the way, I’ve realized that the goal isn’t to find the bright side or cast an optimistic spin on grim reality. Rather, faith involves taking God at his word and asking the Holy Spirit to help me believe and apply biblical truths about God’s grace to challenging circumstances. Even when everything does seem to go wrong, it’s still possible to see God’s grace in Christ.”
Each short chapter ends with a prayer and includes a few some questions, with Scriptural references to look up, for further exploration.
He Will Be Enough will be a hopeful and helpful read for anyone going through a time of trials, filled with hard-earned wisdom, honest reflection, and a solid grasp of Scripture.
