“Compassionate and Encouraging”
(Review written for 'He Will Be Enough')
In this devotional collection, Katie Faris shares meaningful reflections on persevering through suffering. There are twenty different readings, and each one is approximately eight pages long. Faris begins with a story or example from her own life, and then she connects her experiences to a Bible verse about suffering. Each reading ends with a short prayer and some journaling prompts. Throughout the book, she emphasizes God's faithfulness and character, showing how He is compassionate, trustworthy, and at work in the midst of our pain.
However, even though Faris grounds this book in theological truth, her reflections never become abstract or academic. She conveys these truths from within her own life's context, showing how she has personally experienced God's character while navigating the health issues that some of her children have due to a rare genetic disorder. Many elements of this book are very personal, focusing on her family's struggles, and other parts are more general, sharing different examples of what readers might be dealing with. The memoir elements will especially resonate with other parents of children with genetic disorders or other severe health problems, but the book's overall messages apply to all readers, regardless of their circumstances.
"He Will Be Enough: How God Takes You by the Hand Through Your Hardest Days" is a compassionate, encouraging resource for suffering Christians. Katie Faris's vulnerability about her struggles, deep faith in God, and ability to articulate meaningful truths from Scripture can be a great blessing to different readers, and this devotional can help them fix their eyes on God and trust Him in the midst of their pain. This is a platitude-free devotional from someone else in the trenches, and I would especially recommend it to other mothers of children with health issues.