I say that we must to talk ourselves instead of allowing "ourselves" to talk to us!...Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in the hand you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: "Why are you cast down" and say to yourself "Hope in God" - instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is , and what God is and what God has done, and What God has pledged himself to do. Lloyd Jones

The author Dave Furman knows a thing or two about suffering. Suffering physically and emotionally. In his humble encouraging text, he does not give you a 5 step plan to overcome your suffering but to embrace your suffering and there is only one step to that. Where is your focus? Whom are you looking to?

I was very encouraged by this because it is the very thing that puts you at the feet of Jesus. You learn to kiss the wave that throws you against the Rock of Ages. A quote from Spurgeon whom himself suffered greatly but kept embraced the wave.

The text starts with the author's own suffering. Not a woe is me but an attempt to say me too. This is not a competition of who suffers the most. What it then leads to his the teaching of Jesus as he took his disciples on a boat and revealed to them that He is God. To recognize who he is and to rely on him. Another words how do we respond. As the gospel is aligned for us to respond, our suffering does the same. Is our response inward and God forward.

I think the most insightful of this text and that I never saw before is the trial of Christ. When Pilate brought forth Barabbas and Jesus and asked the crowd who to save. At that moment, there is so much there that reveals our need for the gospel. We are the crowd that says crucify Him and in our choice of Barabbas, we reject the gospel for what we think is better. We choose evil over life. Even Barabbas name is significant. It means son of the father and Jesus is the son of God the ultimate father. The crowd chose the wrong son. Wow. The significance of this is our suffering is choosing. What we choose to fill our thoughts with, what we choose to believe and whom we chose to put our faith in.

A quote that I will end with and that says it all and is the primary force in this text. "Being known by God is first to be chosen by God. There a primary truth that must enter our hearts if we to find joy in our sorrows".

I highly recommend this text to deepen your understanding of our sufferings that we too can embrace the wave that come crashing down. The joy comes not from our circumstances but who we run too.

A Special Thank you to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

“When we understand who Christ is (the sustenance-provider and storm-controller), we will have peace in the midst of life’s storms. Misunderstanding who Jesus is brings us only fear and distress.”

Dave Furman does what so many have failed to do when writing about suffering from a Christian perspective; he talks honestly about his disability and his struggles with depression, and without minimizing his suffering, he brings so much hope. Every page of this book encouraged me to love Jesus more and to “kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages”.





Kiss the Wave
Embracing God in Your Trials
by Dave Furman
Crossway


Christian , Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 31 Jan 2018

I am reviewing a copy off Kiss the Wave through Crossway and Netgalley:


Kiss the Wave deals with lives difficult times, with Chronic Pain and heart break in a very realistic way. This book does not sugarcoat the truths, but reminds us that sometimes God can even use the hard times in our lives.


In this book we are encouraged to remember who Christ is during these storms in lives. We are reminded too that God is our refuge, that he is there for us during the hard times. We are reminded too that God understands our pain.


If your looking for a book that is full of empty promises Kiss the Wave is not for you, but if you are wanting an honest and real book I would recommend Kiss the Wave!


Five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

I felt like I was reading King David and all of his challenges that he wrote about in Psalms. What a gem. This was the first book I have ever read from Dave Furman and now I will read anything he puts his hand too. I love the honesty, the vulnerability, and the desire to still keep his eyes on Jesus. Unreal. I am so very thankful that Dave would put his challenges out there for all to see just to be an encouragement of what a real relationship with Jesus looks like. I was deeply convicted and challenged by this book and it will be a resource that I will definitely purchase and pass on to others who are going through challenging times. Great resource.

"I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages." -C. H. Spurgeon

Kiss the Wave is a book about suffering. Every Christian will eventually face some form of suffering - illness, loss, difficult circumstances, etc - which is why there are so many books about suffering on the market. So the question always is, should someone read this book on suffering? I would say yes.

Furman writes this book as someone who has faced intense suffering. He suffers from a nerve problem that leaves him in pain and unable to use his arms much. He writes openly and honestly about both the sins and miseries he has experienced as a result of his pain, which is helpful.

The book is packed with the gospel. He writes about Jesus and the hope found in him on every page. His argument is two sided - that suffering guides us into deeper relationship with and dependence on God, and that only Jesus can give us the comfort we need in suffering. The book is also full of Scripture, guiding the reader back to the Bible in every chapter.

Kiss the Wave is also very short, only 160 pages. I finished it over two days and about 2 hours of reading. While this means that it doesn't say everything that can be said on the topic, short books can be very helpful for people in pain who may not have much of an attention span.

First sentence: How quickly we forget the identity of Jesus!

This book on suffering is titled, Kiss The Wave. The title comes from a Spurgeon quote: "I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages." It wasn't easy for Spurgeon, and it's no easier for us, to kiss the wave. But it is necessary and beneficial that we learn how to embrace the grace in any and every situation. Furman writes, "In the midst of the storm, God has your good and his glory in mind."

The book seeks to do two things. First and foremost, it focuses on Jesus. Chapter after chapter, he asks us to remember who Jesus is and what he is like. The good news of Jesus Christ is proclaimed page after page. The gospel should encourage and not discourage us when we're down. The second focus of the book is on stories. Through stories of people who have suffered--past and present--Furman seeks to encourage and reassure us.

I liked this one. I wanted to love, love, love it. But I didn't quite. I thought the theology was good. No complaints there. I liked the focus on the gospel, on Jesus. I liked the practical advice on how to suffer well. But I felt that there were just a few too many stories.

Favorite quotes:

"We hope not in the things of this world, but in God himself."
"If God is your treasure, your soul will never be empty. If God is your refuge, you will never be deserted. If God is your fortress, you will never be unprotected."
"Not all of us are called to preach the gospel to a church on a Sunday morning, but all of us are called to preach truth to our own hearts each day. Remind yourself that God so loved you that he gave his one and only Son over to the cross for you. In your pain, preach to yourself that it should have been you up there on the cross, but that in the greatest exchange in all of history, he went there instead."

Excellent points made, lots of real life stories and experiences, tons of scripture are at the backbone of this book. The author is relatable and uses scripture backing for everything. He doesn’t base his ideas on personal ideals but on scripture. I felt like the flow of the book was a little choppy but I got the point. The stories became a little distracting and I felt like it could have used more Bridge material (bridging from point to point). It was overall a really good book. There were just a few minor things that would have made it excellent.
I received a digital copy from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.