Ken Wytsma's book The Grand Paradox covers thoughts and truths about God's personality---His fairness (which we don't always understand), and His great love for us. The paradox comes when His waiting and/or our impatience get in the way of seeing what He's attempting to bring forth.
Like when we're waiting for my husband's shop to acquire more work, and the bills are late. Or someone is sick and you just can't see the benefit in it lingering, or ending in death. Those questions we all run into and struggle over. They don't make sense.
The best quote in the book, in my opinion, and one that sums it all up, is this: "The problem is we are always trying to walk by sight but call it faith."
Recently I was in a Bible study class on the book of Jeremiah. The thing that stood out to me was while God was delivering a hard truth to the Israelites, He was loving them at the same time. Well, I saw that Jeremiah appeared to be almost sorry at the burden he was placing on the Israelites. They disobeyed and he was hard-pressed to tell them what would happen as a result of their disobedience. I felt that in a way it shadowed the reluctance of God to blast His people.
That's what Ken's book meant to me. God is with us. Period. And maybe He doesn't always enjoy putting us through the necessary to achieve His ultimate will. We have to get over having to understand everything and really go by faith, not by sight, because it really is humanly impossible to see that far ahead.
And besides Ken's passion for justice issues and talking about the Neolithic period (which I question, being a strict Creationist) in the beginning of the book, I found the book spot on.
(i received this book free to review from booklookbloggers)
