“The head pursues answers; our hearts need more than answers – we need comfort…Answers are not what mend the holes in our blankets of faith. Answers are not what get you through your tough times either. But, my friend, you should still ask the questions…Give yourself permission to ask questions of God.”

This is what I love about Jennifer Rothschild and her new book, God Is Just Not Fair: she’s willing to ask the questions that we all have ringing in our ears in difficult seasons and circumstances. The thoughts that, left unaddressed, can build up into battering rams headed straight for our hearts.

Questions like… Why are you doing this to me, God? Why won’t you fix this situation?  Why aren’t you intervening here, God?  Where are you, God – I feel completely alone here. Why have I been waiting months for a job, God? Why am I caring this disease inside me, God? Why am I the last of all my friends to get married…to have a family..to…

Difficult and even sorrowful circumstances come to all of us in this life. There’s no way avoid them all, but instead of throwing that pain back at God or letting it eat you from the inside out, what Jennifer does in her new book is take readers by the hand and walk with them step by step, question by question.

And I know what you’re thinking:  it’s easy to slap a verse over a circumstance and call it a day. It’s easy to be positive about a situation that you’re not personally sludging through. That’s true –  BUT, Jennifer herself has had to grapple with difficult questions like, “God, why won’t you heal my blindness?” After losing most of her  sight as a 15-year-old girl due to a rare form of the disease Retinitis Pigmentosa, she has now lived longer in physical darkness than she ever did in physical light.

Think about that – she has lived longer in physical darkness than she ever did in physical light. Even on most of our darkest days, we can still find escape and solace in the face of a loved one, in deep hues of a sunset or even a few hours of television. If there’s anyone who knows the feeling of  life’s not fair, I think it’s Jennifer. Yet despite her circumstance, what I hear over and over in Jennifer’s voice as I continue to pour over God Is Not Fair is joy, steadfast faith and determination to give God the glory he deserves. Even more, what I feel while reading the book are the deep grooves in the path that she has created by walking the talk that she now takes readers through.

She writes on her website,”Blindness is hard, but it’s been a place where God has shown Himself to be so kind, strong and faithful. That’s why I do what I do — Because God has made it well with my soul, and I want others to experience the same kind of peace.”

Even after just a few chapters, I have a running list of what I like about Jennifer and chief among them is that she is transparently honest with her story and dark moments. She doesn’t run from the hard questions, but instead holds them up to the light of who God is and lets that truth rule her life.

If you’re looking for a friend in whatever difficult season you may be in, I highly recommend Jennifer and God Is Just Not Fair. For more information on Jennifer, click here.

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Disclosure: I did receive a free copy of God Is Just Not Fair, however all thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are strictly mine.