We had an impressive visitor to our new editorial offices in downtown Manhattan last week, author and pastor Max Lucado, a true VIP (Very Inspirational Person).
Everyone has heard of Max Lucado. We’ve done several stories of his in the magazine and we quote him often on our Up Side and Facebook pages. He’s written and edited scores of books in multiple genres. I can’t imagine how he does it all. I can’t even type that fast.
So it was an incredible honor to have him stop by our not-quite-finished workspace at 110 William Street. I was excited to finally meet him and apologized for the stacks of crates and a few missing ceiling tiles. What struck me about Max immediately was that his voice in person is exactly like the voice in his books. He reminded me a lot of Norman Vincent Peale: There is no difference between the author and the person.
Which is why the new book he dropped off is so powerful, and I’m only half way through You’ll Get Through This. The key is in the subtitle: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times. Unlike so many books out these days, it doesn’t say that we live in troubled times so much as it says you can pretty much expect that at some point (probably multiple points), even if the rest of the world is humming along quite happily, your life will be falling apart. And if yours isn’t, someone close’s is, and that can be almost as bad.
Max is spiritually brave enough to admit that a strong faith does not immunize us against failure and disappointment, fear and anxiety, anguish and tragedy. People of faith are not guaranteed a grief-proof existence. In fact, life is likely to hold equal measures of joy and pain. Even at our best we are capable of being cruel and stupid, resentful and unforgiving. Sometimes it seems that the biggest disappointment in our lives is ourselves.
And yet from this seemingly dark premise he develops an incredibly uplifting thesis: You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good. Don’t be foolish or naive. But don’t despair either. With God’s help, you’ll get through this.
Max uses his trademark personal stories and examples from Scripture to prove his point that we can survive and grow from the most painful setbacks. But it is the genuineness of his voice that really brings a sense of comfort and relief that makes you sit back and say, “All right, I get it. Things are really screwed up right now and that’s OK. It’s a normal part of human existence. If I hang on and have faith, there will be good to come from this.”
This book is like a light in the darkness for anyone who is going through a rough patch. And if you’re blessed enough not to be, you almost certainly know someone who is.
Pardon me now. I’m going to get through the rest of You’ll Get Through This, by my friend Max Lucado.
