Becca’s Bookshelf

If you came over for afternoon coffee, you would probably notice the two full-size bookshelves on my far wall. they contain about 225 books between the two of them. That’s not all my books, but its most them. I am always adding to the collection. Some books are a one-time and read and then set aside, others are so rich I cannot help but share them with others. Becca’s bookshelf posts are meant to give encouragement and recommendations for all things books. I have to enjoy a book before you will see it recommended here.

Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense by Paul David Tripp

Where was this book when I was grappling with the reality of what it meant to suffer as a young adult? Paul published this book in 2019 following an intense encounter with suffering himself.

I found this book when a coworker recommended it for a young woman I was counseling at the time. The experiential pain and suffering she was going through was intense. I knew scripture had so much comfort and hope for her situation, but I wanted a book to give her along side the scripture passages we were going through, and Suffering was the perfect fit. Since that I have been through the book with dozens of young women and did a personal study through it during a very challenging season a few years ago. The study questions at the end of each chapter are not merely fluff–like many devotional style books–they cut to the heart of our pain, our beliefs surrounding that pain, where God is in our pain vs. where we assume he is, and thought provoking challenges for moving forward.

I don’t want to give away too much of his story, since his testimony alone is worth reading the book, but his experience gave him a unique season to work through what scripture teaches AND how the believer is to enter into that truth. Encouraging, practical, comforting, and convicting, Paul blends his story and the stories of others with the truths the Bible provides to us as believers, making the application highly practical and the comfort easily grasped.

Here are few take aways and quotes from the book.