Nancy Ortberg bravely advances into some difficult territory in her new book, Seeing In The Dark. She is addressing the reality of the presence of God even in the areas of grief, disappointment, struggle, and pain. It is raw stuff for sure, but she approaches her subject with maturity and a poet’s command of language. Her whole point is that it’s through the “darkness” of pain and struggle that we most clearly see the glory of God’s “light.” She doesn’t strive to make her point intellectually as much as narratively and poetically. She tells stories and paints pictures with her words. She draws connections and offers hope in unexpected ways.
I can imagine this book being a balm of healing for someone who is grieving or questioning. Ortberg shares from her own experiences of pain and healing, and she doesn’t look away too quickly when she shares stories about the pain of others. My favorite story is that of the Huguenots during World War II, assisting the persecuted Jews so readily because of their own generations-long history of persecution. The Huguenots helped without hesitation because they were familiar with suffering. What a powerful visual of the shaping power of suffering! And there are plenty of other stories like it in this outstanding book.
Pam Ward does a great job narrating the audiobook version of this book. Highly recommended!
Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work. More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at christianaudio.com.