Holding tight

When you hurt too deep for words, it’s possible that the very God-Words you need cannot get past the wall of pain.  I’ve been there, but not in the devastating way that internationally-known author and speaker Carol Kent has been.  I met Carol in the summer of 2000 as the national winner of an essay contest on women mentoring women—the topic of her then-current book.  She and her husband were extraordinarily gracious in hosting me and my teen daughter for the TLC award weekend that included “the works” at a day spa (woo-hoo) and award recognition in front of a huge crowd of the Heritage Keepers women’s conference.  But something seemed amiss as I watched her greet old friends with tearful hugs. Later I learned that just months earlier, unspeakable pain sliced into their lives. Their only child, a respected military officer, was arrested for the murder of his young stepdaughters’ father, whom the son suspected of sexually abusing them. The full story is told in the book's introduction.

As I have prayed for the Kents through the years, I remembered Psalm 34:18--that God promises to be close to the broken-hearted. There was so little I could do, but I knew God saw all their needs. When I learned that Carol had a new book out—this time a devotional titled He Holds My Hand—I knew I needed to order it.  She autographed my copy with this telling inscription: “He holds your hand and He won’t let go. Psalm 63:8.”

Subtitled “Experiencing God’s Presence and Protection,” the 365-entry devotion reflects Carol’s quest to read the Bible as God’s very personal love letter to her.  I’ve recently used Sarah Young devotional books, also “God speaking to you” in style, and know how much more personal it made scripture. But Carol’s book has a passion I’ve found in no other, of God reaching into torn and tender hearts and saying, “I know. Someday it will make sense.”  As such I thought of the world’s most famous sufferer, Job, who in the midst of off-target accusations that his suffering “must” be the result of sin, shoved all those ideas in the corner with a golden declaration of faith:

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job  23:10)

The personal notes in my Bible next to that verse include these:

1. I will walk by faith. (v.11)

2. I will obey God (v. 12)

3. I will “eat” His Word (v. 13)

All of those things Carol has done in this devotional . Each day includes a thought-provoking quotation from a Christian leader. Then she explores what God has “messaged” through a certain text.  I read randomly through the book when I first received it, and each touched me in a tender place.

 The shelves at bookstores are full of devotional books, some fluffy, some thin in true life experience. This is one you will not want to miss.  Buy two copies, one for yourself and one for someone going through times so unsteady that he or she needs a Hand to grasp.

 Hardback, published by Tyndale/Momentum, $15.99