Book review: For the Tough Times

I just finished reading For the Tough Times by Max Lucado.

This book is for everyone. I mean everyone. Read it, then read it again with a highlighter in your hand.

By the title, you imagine it’s just for those who are experiencing hardship in life. But even if your life is all rainbows and ice cream right now, who doesn’t know of someone experiencing tough times? If we ourselves are not asking, we all hear the questions: Where is God in all of this? Can good come from evil? Is God really listening?

We can all use the encouragement in these pages, no matter our circumstances, to gain a greater understanding of God’s purpose in allowing life’s hard moments. Four ourselves, for those around us, and for the state of our world.

I almost stopped after the introduction, feeling that in just five pages Lucado had already given me enough to ponder and digest. But the full 80 pages were loaded with analogies, biblical and historical examples, and Lucado’s characteristically flavorful language. Besides addressing the questions above, he expounds on the issues of trust, God’s authority, the allowance of evil, forgiveness, reverence, hope in death, and prayer.

I’m about to read it again. This time with a highlighter in hand.

“The issue is not the existence of pain; the issue is the treatment of pain.” –Max Lucado