She begins abruptly by talking about the ugliness of death. It should not be taken as a normal, beautiful "release," but as an enemy which separates body from spirit and human beings from each other. This is the beauty of Schaeffer. She never softens the truth. But she wisely guides her readers into a deeper understanding of it. Her main argument is that there are two victories connected with suffering: victory FROM it and victory IN it. She gives many examples of those who have been delivered miraculously from pain and many other examples of those who demonstrated peace and faith even when their prayers were not answered. Scripture references are woven throughout.
She wrote, We have had individuals come to us who have been crushed and discouraged to an extreme because of being mistakenly taught that the criterion of being in the Lord's will is to have everything go well - with no shocks and disappointments. But the Bible teaches that affliction is an expected part of the lives of God's people.
Chapter Eleven, called "Aborting Affliction," packs a powerful punch as Schaeffer deals with the increasingly common idea that if we don't want to be troubled with something, we can just make it go away. This could be an unwanted baby, a disappointing spouse, or an aging relative. She concludes, If affliction and tribulation are to be aborted, then patience, steadfastness, experience and hope are also aborted.... When can love be patient and longsuffering if there aren't any concrete opportunities?
I must admit that although I liked this book very much, I found it difficult to finish. You'd think that the Covid-19 quarantine would be a book-loving introvert's dream come true, but the underlying stress of living in a world on pause has made it more difficult to concentrate. I save my sharpest mental moments - in the early morning - to pray, sing hymns and read scripture. During the rest of the day, I have to force myself sit down with a book. But this book made me glad I made the effort.
Blessings,
P.S. I noticed this was free for Kindle Unlimited if you (like me) keep a running list of books to read when a KU deal comes up (usually at the end of the year.)
2 comments:
So many of my friends are having the same experience, of not being able to settle down to reading as usual, during this strange situation we find ourselves in. But other people are reading books like crazy. I'm wondering if it has to do with that principle that Chesterton writes about:
"There is a great deal of difference between the eager man who wants to read a book, and the tired man who wants a book to read."
I suspect that many of us who are used to "deep reading" are expending a lot of energy -- spiritual, mental, emotional, maybe it's all those -- coping with the pandemic and all its ramifications, and it takes a special kind of book that is not the scriptures themselves to actually restore our strength overall, and not just expend more of it.
It does sound like Schaeffer's book is a good one, for some other time, maybe -- though you have gleaned treasures already. Thank you for telling us about it.
I read this 30 years ago and I never forgot it. I just downloaded it from Kindle unlimited to read again. Thanks for mentioning that.
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