When The Stars Disappear, by Mark Talbot
7/60 | Started 01.16.23 • Finished 02.17.23 | 5 stars
First in an upcoming four-part series, this beautiful book explores the topic of suffering through the Biblical examples of Job, Naomi, and Jeremiah. Packed with scripture, Talbot encourages the reader to look not just at our own particular story but also the larger story of the world that God is Lord over. He includes what he calls breathing lessons, in which he breaks down what prayer - healthy, Psalmic prayer - looks like. One of the big ideas Talbot points the reader to is God's chesed, or his steadfast love, kindness, and faithfulness. He then returns to his biblical characters to show how their stories played out.
If we suffer profoundly, it does not mean that God has abandoned us. Indeed, the God of chesed is always present in the midst of his saints’ suffering, accomplishing his good purposes for them in and through it, no matter how incomprehensible at the time it may be.
I found this short book to be chock full of hope and help for God's suffering saints. I especially appreciated the study of chesed and the emphasis on remembering. I'm actually going to go back and read it again, as per Talbot's recommendation. He advises an initial read without looking at footnotes, scriptures, etc., and then going back a second time and even a third time with a closer look. I'm eager to read future volumes in this series.
We have his word and the experience of his saints in Scripture that when those storms finally begin to subside and the sky begins to clear, we will look up and once again see the sun and the moon and the stars, and then realize that our loving heavenly Father has indeed been with us all along our way.