Book Review

I just finished reading For The Tough Times by Max Lucado. The second part of the title reads Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing. This book is a sort of an answer guide for the extremely difficult times in life when Christians ask "Where is God?" "Does He care or hear my prayers?" "Why does He let this happen?" Considering the deep subject matter, I was surprised when I opened the packaging the book was mailed in to find a tiny little thing about 5" by 7" and only 80 pages in length. I wondered how Max Lucado was even going to broach such a sensitive topic in such a short book. I admit that he has a distinct, impressive writing style. He puts hard to understand ideas into everyday language and uses analogies that really resonate with me and probably lots of other people. There were several nuggets in this book that made me pause and think "Wow." The things he writes in this book are good, but a little too brief to do justice to the enormity of pain that causes these kinds of soul-searching questions. It's a good reminder book, to help us prepare for the times when we are going to be hurting and questioning God's role in that. But, I would not recommend giving this book to a person that is in the midst of that type of pain or to someone who has never had any experience with grappling with the answers to those questions from a Christian perspective.
I will give it 3 out of 5 stars for being a good concise reminder that God is in control. But I would have liked it better if the author had expounded on the ideas he presented.