“Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is having an affair. Not the businessman whose investments are embezzled by a crooked colleague. Not the teenager who discovers that a night of romance has resulted in a surprise pregnancy. Not the pastor who feels his faith shaken by questions of suffering and fear.”

This paragraph comes from the last chapter of inspirational writer and pastor Max Lucado’s book, You’ll Get Through This nails down the realities of life. Life can be hard. Very hard for some people. Everyone’s life journey faces its own roadblocks and pitfalls. No one escapes it. No matter your financial status. No matter your ethnic background or gender. As my mother used to tell me as a child, life will teach you, just keep on livin‘. Indeed.

Max uses the biblical tale of Joseph from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament to show how this figure went from being Jacob’s favored son to being a Hebrew slave in Egypt. However, Joseph eventually becomes the second most influential figure in Egypt, a journey influenced by a dream given to him by God as a child. From a theological standpoint, Joseph is considered a forerunner to Jesus, and his narrative has been used by many preachers to illustrate this connection.

While I appreciate Joseph’s narrative, the review’s opening paragraph’s wisdom struck me more deeply. Here’s another nugget of Lucado’s wisdom from the book:

“Forgiveness has fits and starts, good days and bad. Anger intermingled with love. Irregular mercy. We make progress only to make a wrong turn. Step forward and fall back. But this is okay. When it comes to forgiveness, all of us are beginners. No one owns a secret formula. As long as you are trying to forgive, you are forgiving. It’s when you no longer try that bitterness sets in.”

I have never read forgiveness described in such a manner. Forgiveness, especially in modern evangelical Christianity, often portrays the forgiver as having completely erased the offense from their memory. That never felt true. Forgiveness in the way Max wrote is actually what really happens. From his perspective, God is okay with your honest feelings about forgiving someone who has hurt you, as long as you trust in His strength and rely on Him to help you through it.

There are several more nuggets of Lucado wisdom that make You’ll Get Through This a very good and much-needed inspirational read. Life inevitably presents challenges and difficulties to all individuals; however, those who have faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are assured of a source of strength and guidance during times of hardship. You should know that He will stand with you and guide you through this, offering support and direction every step of the way.