This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers

Reviewed by:

G. Connor Salter, Professional Writing alumnus from Taylor University, Upland, IN.

Title:

This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers

Author:

K.J. Ramsey

Publisher:

Zondervan

Publication Date:

May 12, 2020

Format:

Paperback

Length:

224 pages

OVERVIEW

“This is not a before and after story.”

K.J. Ramsey opens with those words, and she means it. Having suffered chronic pain since her early twenties, watched her friends flourish while she and her husband struggled to get by, and then suffer again as ministry professionals failed her, Ramsey has learned the hard way that suffering doesn’t always stop. But perhaps that’s not the point. Perhaps the Bible tells that even pain can be a pathway God uses to understand him better. More than that, perhaps the Church isn’t supposed to help us feel good, it’s supposed to help Christians carry their burdens. Ramsey mines her own experiences, research into how we handle suffering and heal from it, and theological insights into how God views pain, to explain how to grow deeper in faith even when the light seems impossibly far away.

The problem of suffering is one of the oldest questions Christians have struggled with. More and more writers are finding the trouble for contemporary American Christians is that they’ve been taught suffering will eventually stop if they’re faithful enough. Ramsey gives many of the answers that other great writers have reached on this topic, but she refuses to makes those answers seem palatable, pretty and easy. Her approach makes those ideas feel relatable in ways that many writers don’t achieve. It’s one thing to hear a writer talk about how we may need to simply rely on God one moment at a time when that writer uses a clean tone and a self-help format. It’s another thing to hear a writer talk about that idea with a visceral tone and a refusal to deny how hard suffering is. As she takes a hard look at pain, and yet how in painful moments Christ provides in ways we couldn’t expect, Ramsey guides readers to a faith that is truly sustainable.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5 stars)

5 stars

Suggested Audience

Christians struggling with how to trust God and find faith amidst suffering that doesn’t stop.

Christian Impact

There are plenty of contemporary Christian books people can read to help them find perspective and hope again when struggling. Unfortunately, few of those books give really sustaining answers that hold up to the harshest realities life throws at people. Ramsey gives answers that may not feel inspiring at first, but have real sustenance. This book will keep pointing people back to Christ and giving them renewed strength long after they’ve forgotten most of the other books on the subject.