Today we have a book review! As we’ve mentioned previously there is no substitute for reading the Bible. But there are so many good resources for us in English which is something to praise God for.
As a new-ish Dad reading “Therefore I have hope”, wasn’t an easy read if I’m honest. Let me give you the context of the book.
The author Cameron Cole was a youth pastor in the States, and he went on a short overnight camp trip with leaders and students. He awoke to many missed calls from his wife. Their 3 year old son had died in his sleep. He describes it as “My worst had entered.”
Even though my ‘Worst’ hasn’t taken place in my life yet, I read many parts of this book through tears. Cameron Cole says, “As Lauren (his wife) and I sat on Cam’s (his son) bed in those first horrible hours of our Worst, thinking about the utterly miserable and seemingly impossible road ahead, I began to give myself the same advice I had heard right out of college. I said the only thing I honestly could say to Lauren: ‘All we need is grace for today. That’s all we need.’
“And so we asked God for sufficient grace, and the Lord made it rain.”
This book looks at ’12 truths that comfort, sustain and redeem in tragedy’. So this book isn’t just for parents who have lost children. It’s for those who have lost parents, siblings, friends. In fact these truths are for anyone when their ‘Worst’ happens.
This book is also for those who know of others experiencing their ‘Worst’ and they don’t know how to speak to them or act around them.
What I appreciated from this book was it’s honesty. The author doesn’t pretend he’s super holy and that going through this trial in his life was a walk in the park. He admits his failings, his faults, the times he should have reacted differently. Which means it’s a book we can relate to.
The 12 truths that this book looks at is Grace, Gospel, Resurrection, Faith, Empathy, Providence, Doubt, Presence, Sin, Joy, Service and finally Heaven.
Out of all these chapters, the one that will always stick with me is the chapter on Resurrection. The author says, “’Lauren, Christ is risen from the dead.’ There lies the most significant sentence of my life. It was the first sentence I uttered when my wife delivered the crushing news that my son had died.”
This truth transformed everything for Cameron Cole and his wife. Before the author went on that camping trip, his little boy said a simple, yet very real profession of faith in Jesus. That was all he needed. Later he says;
“For ten minutes I held, caressed, and kissed my sweet little boy’s body. I told him how much I loved him and what a special boy he was. I ran my fingers through his soft, thick hair. Weeping on my knees on that frigid floor by the bed, I told my son goodbye.
Then, it was as if the Lord came up from behind me, place his hands under my shoulders, and lifted me from the ground. Amid my despair, a rush of the Spirit struck through my heart, and I felt an unrehearsed utterance coming from my mouth.
With my hand on my little boy’s chest, I declared to the doctors and nurses in the room, ‘If Christ isn’t risen, then I am completely screwed right now. I have no hope, and I am finished. But, you know what? Christ is risen from the dead. It’s true. This little boy is in heaven, and I will see him again. This situation utterly sucks, but I’m going to make it, because Christ really is risen and God really is good. I have hope.”
I thoroughly recommend this book. If you are going through your worst you should read this. If you know someone going through their worst, you should read this. Or if you are like me, you want to prepare for your worst with 12 truths from Scripture, you should read this book.
Warning, this isn’t an easy read. As I said, I read some of this book in tears. Some experiencing their ‘Worst’ might not yet be ready for the brutal honesty in this book. But it is a honesty that brings hope, because it focusses on Christ.
Here’s a link for the book at 10ofthose… https://www.10ofthose.com/uk/products/23995/therefore-i-have-hope
Miss Julia Rees says
Thanks Lloyd that definitely sounds like a good book to have to hand !