Title: A Grace Disguised
Author: Jerry Sittser
Major Themes: Grief, Pain, Suffering, Christian Living
Synopsis: After losing his wife, mother, and daughter suddenly, Jerry Sittser shares the lessons God has taught him about how the soul grows through loss.
A week or so ago, a friend handed me a copy of A Grace Disguised, saying that he thought I might be interested in reading it. He seemed to think it might be good for me—and after reading the subtitle, “How the soul grows through loss,” I knew he was probably right. I know that has been true for me after having experienced loss.
Publisher’s description:
With vulnerability and honesty, Jerry Sittser walks through his own grief and loss to show that new life is possible—one marked by spiritual depth, joy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of simple and ordinary gifts. This 25th anniversary edition features a new introduction and two additional chapters, one which provides help for pastors and counselors.
Loss came suddenly for Jerry Sittser. In an instant, a tragic car accident claimed three generations of his family: his mother, his wife, and his young daughter. While most of us will not experience such a catastrophic loss in our lifetime, all of us will face some kind of loss in life. But we can, if we choose, know the grace that transforms us.
Whether your suffering has come in the form of chronic illness, disability, divorce, unemployment, crushing disappointment, or the loss of someone you love, Sittser will help you put your thoughts into words in a way that will guide you deeper into your own healing process.
This revised edition of A Grace Disguised plumbs the depths of our sorrows, asks questions many people are afraid to ask, and provides hope in its answers:
- Will the pain ever subside?
- Will my life ever be good again?
- Will the depression ever lift?
- Will I ever overcome the bitterness I feel?
- What is God’s plan in all of this?
The circumstances are not important; what we do with those circumstances is. In coming to the end of ourselves, we can come to the beginning of a new life.
My thoughts:
I really appreciated the way Jerry Sittser shared what God taught him through the loss of his family members. He originally wrote this book only a few years after the accident, so a lot of it is still very raw and powerful. I can relate to a lot of his emotions, although, as he stated, no one can fully understand another’s pain. The purpose of A Grace Disguised is to help people to understand God better, to understand how He works through pain and grief to make people better.
There were a lot of passages that really stood out to me. One was a quote from a survivor of Nazi death camps, who said,
Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.”
Then, there was a discussion about God’s sovereignty and free will, and how both can exist at the same time:
Even human freedom, then, becomes a dimension of God’s sovereignty, as if God were a novelist who had invented characters so real that the decisions they make are genuinely their decisions.”
At the same time, a few pages later, he admits,
In the end, however, I do not think I will ever be able to comprehend God’s sovereignty. The very idea transcends the mind’s capacity to fathom it.”
How true! This is a concept to mull over for a long time.
I recommend A Grace Disguised to every Christian. We don’t like to think about sorrow, grief, and suffering, but they are all part of life here on earth. This author has taken a very hard subject and shared his thoughts and experiences, which help me to understand God’s purposes better.
WARNING: A terrible accident is described.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | MP3 CD
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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