For my workshop I would suggest:
- Suffering and the Sovereignty of God by John Piper and contributors – This collection of Desiring God national conference messages is especially helpful to those struggling to understanding God’s involvement and purpose in their suffering and loss, wondering if it was outside of God’s control or something he ordained for them.
- When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty by Joni Eareckson Tada – If Joni’s radiant faith and life were not a strong enough refutation of the health-and-wealth gospel, her soundly scriptural exploration of the suffering of Jesus, and of his people, convinces us that while God does not promise to remove our suffering, he does promise to redeem it.
- The One-Year Book of Hope by Nancy Guthrie – Healing through grief usually takes some time. But time alone does not heal. We need the Word of God applied to our grief induced thoughts and and misunderstandings. This book is a one-year daily devotional that brings the truth of God’s Word to bear on the hurts of life.
- Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow by Nancy Guthrie – When we experience a significant loss, sometimes we struggle to reconcile our understanding of who God is and what we’ve believed we could and should expect from him with the harsh reality of our experience. We see Jesus healing and we wonder why he didn’t heal the one we love. We read promises of protection and encouragements to pray and we wonder why we weren’t protected and why our prayers weren’t answered. This book examines eleven key statements Jesus made seeking a deeper understanding of his promises and his purposes in the world.
- When Your Family’s Lost a Loved One by David and Nancy Guthrie – Grief puts a lot of pressure on a marriage and on a family and relationships with friends and extended family. It is awkward and unsettling. This practical book addresses questions about how to deal with insensitive people, how to grow closer as a couple and family through grief, and aspects of loss a family faces such as what to do with the person’s belongings, how often to visit the grave, how to handle the holidays.
As I sit in a small group circle with other women discussing the Bible, what hinders our understanding of a particular passage or completely derails our discussion about it more often than not, is our lack of understanding of the bigger storyline of the Bible. When we don’t understand the big picture, we tend to try make the Bible all about us and end up in the ditch. Here are several books I would recommend for your reading on your own or as a small group to develop a deeper understanding of the big themes and the big picture of the Bible:
- Far as the Curse is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption by Michael Williams
- The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story by D. A. Carson
- According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible by Graeme Goldsworthy
Free eBook by Tim Keller: ‘The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness’
Imagine a life where you don’t feel inadequate, easily offended, desperate to prove yourself, or endlessly preoccupied with how you look to others. Imagine relishing, not resenting, the success of others. Living this way isn’t far-fetched. It’s actually guaranteed to believers, as they learn to receive God’s approval, rather than striving to earn it.
In Tim Keller’s short ebook, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: The Path To True Christian Joy, he explains how to overcome the toxic tendencies of our age一not by diluting biblical truth or denying our differences一but by rooting our identity in Christ.
TGC is offering this Keller resource for free, so you can discover the “blessed rest” that only self-forgetfulness brings.
