Book Review: The Comeback
"The big truth we need to grasp is that God loves us.It's a personal and individual love."Louie Giglio, The Comeback
If you find yourself in a pit of despair, discouraged and beaten down by life, chances are you're looking for a turnaround. If you are desperate for understanding the "why" behind your circumstances or are looking for a "fix" to your life, you may be tempted to pick up Louie Giglio's new book, The Comeback: It's Not Too Late and You're Never Too Far.
The catchy title, legit cover art, and relevant topic make this a very appealing read to those who call themselves believers and those who don't.
However, you should know that Louie isn't peddling a five-step, quick fix, pop song everything-things-gonna-be-alright program. In fact, the lack of prescription may be frustrating, but Louie implies since you're not God, your limited perspective isn't going to "get it."
"The purposes of God blend together in the colors he's painting on this big canvas that we can't completely see or fully understand."
Louie is far too experienced in the messy reality of life to offer anything so pat as "here's how you stage a comeback." Instead, he offers a relationship.
"The solution isn't about your trying harder....The solution I'm pointing you to is a solution of faith. It's not a formula, but there is real evidence that it works. The solution lies in a relationship with Jesus Christ."
Well, doesn't faith sound like a challenge?
Don't go away so fast. Life isn't simple, so neither is the process of a comeback. If we can't use a formula what CAN we do? Louie's primary way of making his point with the reader is through stories. Louie tells lots and lots of stories.
This is a beautiful thing.
He recounts stories to show that God is always and forever in the business of comebacks, no matter what.
Locked away in an Egyptian prison?Battling anxiety and depression?Haunted by dashed dreams?Facing a horrible diagnosis?Widowed at a young age?Captured by the Philistines?
In recounting these stories Louie argues that none of these put you outside of God's grace or his ability to stage a comeback. He is also adamant that God's script for a comeback won't match our expectations.
"This is not a grace that promises you that everything is going to work out for you as you'd hoped...This grace can hardly be articulated even when it's felt."
I read the book in a couple of days, which is probably too fast a clip to really absorb the insights, but it made the narratives feel like highlight reels of two remarkable ideas:
- God is in control
- We shouldn't be afraid
I don't know where those ideas land with you, but if you've ever wondered what's on the other side of the "empty," you will find Comeback fascinating and, more importantly, life-changing.