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It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Patricia met her future husband at the age of thirteen in a Bible class. Ten years later they were married and with a bright future of children and ministry ahead of them. But at thirty-one Patricia was diagnosed with a rare muscular disease, myasthenia gravis, an illness the doctors predicted would take her life before she reached middle age. They were wrong. For forty-seven years Carr nursed his wife through the pain, the discomfort of tracheotomy and gastrostomy tubes, and, eventually, confinement in a wheelchair until she passed away at the age of seventy-eight. Where was a loving and caring God in this process? Culling wisdom from his sermons and other writings of those dark years, Carr offers insights forged in the fires of doubt and suffering to encourage others in their own journeys with Christ.
Taking his title from Job 5:7 in the Bible which refers to how “man is born to trouble,” the author repeatedly shows how trials are a part of life, and being a follower of Jesus does not mean we will somehow be immune to them. Who we turn to in order to survive the painful times is the key. As the author puts it, “Religion does not exempt us from the evil day, but it does prepare us for it.” In addition, our dependence on God does not mean we remain idle; we must constantly be striving forward in our faith, not giving up when times are tough. Like Paul in the Bible, we must press “’toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’”
Carr’s writing is engaging and thought-provoking. The hardships of his personal life did not hamper but instead enriched his sermons. His book offers us the refined gold of his fiery experiences.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review