I’m excited to announce that my book Limping Heavenward: Living by Faith in Comprehensive and Chronic Suffering, is now available!
I wrote Limping Heavenward to give visibility and voice to a particular kind of suffering not often addressed in Christian books: what I call “comprehensive and chronic suffering.” It was born through my own struggle to reconcile the violent upheaval of my life with everything that I believed about God and his Word. Things that had once been clear became hazy. Dots that had always been connected by straight lines suddenly seemed unreconcilable. My faith was stretched almost to its breaking point, but I couldn’t find any resources that addressed my specific questions and challenges.
What do we do when our lives feel like a story that God just got tired of writing and abandoned midcourse? In comprehensive suffering, it’s not just one area of life that takes a turn for the worse. It’s most or all of them—all at once. And when it doesn’t resolve in a matter of months, but rather drags on for years, it becomes chronic suffering that is more than just a “season.” If we sense God’s tender care for us in our affliction, and if friends and fellow believers walk with us in meaningful ways that show we’re not alone, we can endure any affliction that comes our way. But when we lose a sense of God’s presence, and in the absence of faithful friends walking with us, hope quickly drains and the darkness threatens to consume us.
My hope for this book is twofold: first, that it will serve as a light in the dark for bewildered and weary saints who feel forgotten, alone, and are struggling to hold on to their faith; and second, that it will help the entire body of Christ learn to care more effectively for those facing comprehensive and chronic suffering.
