When you publish a book, a common question is, “What’s it about?”
Here was my compelling, one line response designed to foster an irresistible desire to know more.
RELENTLESS GRACE is the story of God’s perfect faithfulness in the face of my incessant lack of faith.
I think we tend to confuse “faith” and “belief.”
I never stopped believing. I never stopped wanting to follow Jesus. The problem was (and still is) that my belief doesn’t impact my behavior.
… my incessant lack of faith… I believe, but I don’t trust.
When things get tough, I too frequently default to self-reliance. I’m supposed to have all the answers, so I’d better concoct the plans and get out my toolbox.
I once described this repeated pattern to a friend/pastor who “sympathetically” replied, “So, how’s that working for you?” When you get to know them, pastors can be sarcastic.
But he was right – my lack of trust doesn’t work all that well. I congratulate myself when I accidentally cross the correct path, certain I’ve finally got it figured out. Then I wander off course once more, crash into another obstacle, and wonder why God doesn’t help.
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When I started arranging the episodes of Relentless Grace to create some sort of coherent story, I thought I was tracing my journey through recovery from a devastating injury. I had this image of somehow giving the reader a sense of hope by revealing my own weakness. I wanted to say, “If I can do this, you can as well.”
A single-sentence synopsis of the story I envisioned: Rich recovers from tragedy despite incredible stubbornness, resistance, denial, and stupidity.
But the account I planned wasn’t what emerged. Turns out—amazingly enough—that the story really wasn’t about me at all.
Next time – God’s faithfulness.