Thursday, October 17, 2013

Book Review: A Hope Deferred by J.Stephen Yuille

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I received a copy of this book free of charge from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

I read the words in my Bible that said, in Christ I am an adopted daughter and heir. I even believed those words, however, I did not understand the depth of those words until I walked through the process of adopting a child of my own. It is the most beautiful yet painful picture. This book paints the story of the author's own personal journey through infertility and adoption while applying these concepts to God as our Heavenly Father whom we belong to by adoption. It was beautifully done.

The book also took us through Romans 8. It is a book that I will probably read again and that is saying a lot because rarely do I reread a book unless I really loved it. Here are a few reasons why from the book:

On us calling God Abba, "I think of the accounts of people who have visited some of the orphanages in Russia and China. Upon entering, they immediately notice the silence. There are dozens and dozens of children but none of them are crying. Why? They learned not to cry. Why? They learned that no one responds to their cries. What happens when someone adopts one of these children? Slowly, they learn to cry--give an expression of utter dependence. That's us. The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual life. The first sign of this life is that we cry Abba."

I do not know why exactly but this passage struck me right at the core of my being. Maybe it is because my own baby boy was observed always in darkness, never moving a muscle, never making a sound. Anytime he was seen, his condition was the same. I often thought, what would make this now boisterous, loud, and fun loving child not make even a sound? I see now, he has security, safety, and attention. He now has parents who take care of him. He is free to be dependent. It is in the freedom of being dependent that we can truly experience the great love that comes through adoption.

Then there was this regarding trials, "But we had learned that we must embrace the fact that God often entrusts his people with the unexplained. That's a crucial lesson to grasp, because it necessarily means that --in the midst of difficulties--our faith isn't rooted in understanding why, but understanding who."

If we could learn this as a body of believers it would help us from going off course in thought so often during trial. It would help us learn to lift our arms to our Father in Heaven and entrust ourselves to Him in return. It would allow us to stop trying to figure these things out and just trust. This would allow us to be supportive of others in their trials.

What I included above is just a small sampling of this books brilliance. I do believe this book would be helpful for any Christian. The doctrine of adoption is important to understand as a child of God and this book does it justice. You can get a copy of this book from Amazon here.

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