Book Write-Up: God Is Just Not Fair

Jennifer Rothschild.  God Is Just Not Fair: Finding Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.  (ePub: February 2014.)

Jennifer Rothschild is blind.  She is also a Christian.  This book is about her journey to cope spiritually with her blindness.  She has wondered why others have been healed of their diseases, whereas God has not healed her of her blindness.  She has felt guilt, thinking that she was a burden to others.  She is learning to trust in God’s sovereignty and to focus on others.  Because of her experience and her honesty, what she has to say does not come across as a pat answer, not in the least.  This book contains advice that one can probably encounter elsewhere, but this book is still unique, on account of her stories, her humor, her likable personality, and her application of the Bible.  (For the last one, I think particularly of her application of the Queen of Sheba story to the search for God.)

I’d like to highlight three things that I especially liked about this book.  First of all, the book is praised and recommended by conservative Christians like Kirk Cameron and Kay Arthur, yet Jennifer Rothschild herself opens a chapter with a quotation of progressive evangelical Rachel Held Evans.  That is meaningful to me, perhaps because of my affinity for both sides.

Second, I appreciate what Jennifer Rothschild says on page 79: “My friend, what you most long for is not proof of Jesus’ reality, but rather, the reality of Jesus’ presence.”  That caught my attention, as one who has been reading Christian apologetics.

Third, I liked Jennifer Rothschild’s suggestions on how one can change one’s mindset from focusing on oneself to focusing on God and others.  I do not cope with the challenges that Jennifer Rothschild does, but I do struggle with self-pity.  Ordinarily, talk about reaching out to others turns me off, since I am a shy introvert.  Jennifer Rothschild talked, however, about trying to orient one’s thoughts towards God and others and being available for service when called upon.  That can be challenging, but at least it is fairly manageable to me.

I have been reading a chapter of this book for thirty days, one chapter per day.  I will miss it somewhat, since it has been part of my life for about a month!

Note: I received a complimentary review copy of this book (as an e-book) through the BookLook Bloggers (http://booklookbloggers.com/) book review bloggers program.  The program does not require for my review to be positive, and my review reflects my honest reaction to the book.