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.