Book Notes - For These Tough Times by Max Lucado

Today's forecast for St. Peters: Patchy drizzle, low 47 degrees. While running errands earlier today it was in the low fifties--not bad for early January.

Recently I read a book written by Max Lucado and published by Thomas Nelson. I found this book comforting, especially during the holiday season, when the loss of loved ones can be particularly painful.

Max Lucado is a best-selling writer and senior minister at the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. FOR THESE TOUGH TIMES is a short book--just under 90 pages--that attempts to answer the question from PSALM 11:3: "When all that is good falls apart, what can good people do?"

In his Introduction, Lucado challenges the reader to "ask the questions that trouble us all during difficult times: Who is God? Where is God in all of this? Can good come from evil? And prayer--is God really listening?"

Lucado's book is divided into eight chapters which contain quotes from Scripture and pose thought-provoking questions. The chapters are:

* Where is God?

* God's Greatest Love

* Eyes on the Father

* Good Triumphant

* The Bitter Taste of Revenge

* In the Silence, God Speaks

* In the Storm, We Pray

* From God's Perspective

The primary text concludes with: "Do It Again, Lord: A Prayer for Troubled Times."

I recommend this book to anyone who has experienced grief or suffered a loss of: a loved one, a job, one's income, a home, one's dreams, or one's way. The subtitle of the book sums up how I felt after reading it. I am: Reaching toward heaven for hope and healing.