Jenna Baker

This book is definitely a hard one. Granted, I went into it with a different mindset than Kate has on life. I cannot understand what she went through/is going through, but I can shed some light on why I believe my God is a Good God, a God of love, mercy, and pure goodness. I think the main problem is have with this book is Kate just has this need for absolute control over everything and has no faith that God works things out for his glory. It doesn’t matter what we go through, it’s about how he can be glorified through our lives. The whole book is centered around “why are you doing this to me, God?” when Kate’s outlook on her entire life could’ve been changed to “how can I glorify you through this trial, God?” It’s hard not to ask why, for sure. It’s hard to just sit back and let things happen and just trust him to work things out for his glory, for his will. I definitely sympathize with her in that, I am sure I would feel the same way. It’s hard not to sympathize with her. But Kate using her very powerful voice to question God in what seemed the entire book is actually so wrong. I’m sitting here thinking about how she’s writing, what she’s saying. Yes it’s raw, it’s real, and it’s so human and powerful yet heartbreaking to see people’s lives played out like this. But she could use her voice in a totally different way- an encouraging and uplifting way- to bring those who also go through similar- or worse- struggles back to God and give them faith that their God IS a God of goodness, mercy and love. But just because he is a God of those things, it doesn’t mean he’s just gonna save us from everything that makes us shake a little (or a lot). Our entire purpose is to glorify God. Who are we to assume the only way to do that is if we live? If we have easy, carefree, simple lives. He has the most glory when we struggle, yet praise him regardless. She switches back and forth between viewpoints. She took good things and bad things- Christianity and Atheism/Deism- and blended it all together into one big “humanity is a beautiful thing” sob story that emphasizes sympathy to the hurting. Is the only way to be a “good” person (in Kate’s eyes) to agree that God is not a God of goodness to those who love him? That God is only capable of good to those who follow him? That nothing bad should ever happen to those who willfully live their lives in service to him? I certainly hope not. This is a great book- do not get me wrong. It’s a very good read. It certainly gets your mind thinking and encourages deep theological study. But Kate seemingly has some deep-down spiritual issues that seem to become very evident in her writing of this book.