Even If He Doesn't: What We Believe about God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense
Ebook
How can I approach God if I’m struggling to believe in His goodness?
So much of our belief can be formulaic. We often think that if we do A, B, and C, then God will do X, Y, and Z. We check things off the “Good Christian Checklist,” trusting we’ll be okay, and our trials will be minimal. But when our experiences inevitably deviate from that belief, our trust in God often crumbles. After a series of life-altering trials--including a devastating diagnosis--uncovering faith in the cracks of pain is something Kristen LaValley knows well.
In Even If He Doesn’t, Kristen will:
- share her vulnerable and honest story
- unpack the nuances of suffering and faith, holding space for the tension between the two
- reveal how engaging the gentleness and grace of Christ in our suffering offers a surprising path to healing
- remind us that when our belief is reduced to a formula, we rob ourselves of a faith that’s enriched by suffering, not crippled by it
Those in the midst of heartache will find strength and renewal as Kristen approaches the complexity of suffering with compassion, guiding us to endure while not forsaking the joy, hope, and peace of those marked by Jesus.
Kristen’s words will comfort your heart, care for your soul, and always, always carry you toward the hope of Christ. Through her writing that is both beautiful and truthful, you’ll learn how to lean into the love of God when suffering threatens to hide your view of his goodness. May her words buoy you in whatever storm you’re facing.
Trauma ignites so many different emotions in each of us, but the last thing we need is to feel like a failure because our faith feels shaky. Kristen mirrors courageous, raw honesty as she helps you flip the script on the way suffering has tutored you to how God actually talks about suffering on the pages of Scripture. Kristen is a gifted storyteller—you will not want to put this book down. No empty platitudes or pithy sayings here, just real-life examples of how to apply the Bible to your current suffering.
As I joined the whole internet praying and rallying around the LaValley family in 2020, I had no idea that Kristen’s words about their experience would later help bind up deep wounds tied to my own grief and tragedy. Many books talk about Christian suffering, but this is the first I’ve seen that simultaneously gives permission to suffer without making you feel like it’s your fault and gives permission to heal without turning to platitudes or feel-good theology. Even If He Doesn’t takes the raw truth of suffering and mixes it with a gentle invitation to lean on the one who is with us through it all. And it’s done with a bit of humor and levity that can only come from a life marked by joy and hope in the midst of deep sorrows.
In a humorous tearjerker, Kristen courageously reveals her experience through trauma, giving the reader a firsthand look at what it’s like to have every certainty ripped from your suffering hands until all you’re left with is a relationship with a God who is glad to be with you no matter what. Using her own story to expose harmful, distorted beliefs within Christian culture, Kristen creates space for the reader to find grace, peace, and joy in their journey.
It can be difficult to put words around suffering, loss, and grief. Kristen takes her story, woven beautifully with Scripture, and walks alongside the reader through their own feelings. I am very thankful for the grace and love that jump off the pages of this journey. Everyone deals with the pain of suffering differently—I’m thankful for Kristen’s ability to help articulate a practical theology around a topic the church often struggles to explore.
Few are brave enough to address the topic of suffering because to believe in Jesus and suffer, too, can sometimes be a hard reality to accept. In this book, it feels like Kristen is holding our hand as she walks us through suffering and the sacred way to be in it while still hoping and believing in God. Every day, we are surrounded by suffering in this world, whether we see it or experience it—this book is for such a time as yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Kristen’s words help us feel included—that our pain can be shared and understood. By the end of this book, God will feel closer and more real, and you will give yourself more love and compassion.
This book is a gift for those of us caught between hope in a God of love and the brutality of our own experience. Kristen LaValley courageously, transparently, invites us into her own journeys through this crucible. On the way, she brings fresh light, hope, and courage for our own roads ahead.
The body is desperate for an honest expression of what it means to suffer while also walking with Jesus. In the wake of church hurt, loss, grief, and pain, Kristen offers a profound and earnest gift of words to believers everywhere and in any season of life. She wrestles well with the uncomfortable realities of loving Christ while living in the now and not yet.
In Even If He Doesn’t, Kristen LaValley opens the door into her darkest moments with such honesty and straightforwardness that we can’t help but feel less afraid to face our own valleys. Kristen writes with the voice of a friend—the kind who isn’t afraid of your angst but also won’t ever stop believing how beloved you are by God. This book felt like a balm to me personally, and I pray it offers the same to you. This is such a warm and welcoming book for all of us who can’t unsee our own wounds.
VERDICT Gentle Christian wisdom that offers a fresh take on the link between suffering, faith, spirituality.—Sandra Collins
- Title: Even If He Doesn't: What We Believe about God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense
- Authors: Carlos Whittaker, Kristen LaValley
- Publisher: Tyndale Momentum
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781496478542, 9781496478528, 1496478525, 1496478541
- Resource ID: LLS:9781496478542
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-01T13:34:07Z