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A Grace Revealed: How God Redeems the Story of Your Life
Twenty years ago, Jerry Sittser lost his daughter, wife, and mother in a car accident. He chronicled that tragic experience in A Grace Disguised, a book that has become a classic on the topic of grief and loss.
Now he asks: How do we live meaningfully, even fruitfully, in this world and at the same time long for heaven? How do we respond to the paradox of being a new creature in Christ even though we don't always feel or act like one? How can we trust God is involved in our story when our circumstances seem to say he isn't?
While A Grace Disguised explored how the soul grows through loss, A Grace Revealed brings the story of Sittser's family full circle, revealing God's redeeming work in the midst of circumstances that could easily have destroyed them. As Sittser reminds us, our lives tell a good story after all. A Grace Revealed will helps us understand and trust that God is writing a beautiful story in our own lives.
Now he asks: How do we live meaningfully, even fruitfully, in this world and at the same time long for heaven? How do we respond to the paradox of being a new creature in Christ even though we don't always feel or act like one? How can we trust God is involved in our story when our circumstances seem to say he isn't?
While A Grace Disguised explored how the soul grows through loss, A Grace Revealed brings the story of Sittser's family full circle, revealing God's redeeming work in the midst of circumstances that could easily have destroyed them. As Sittser reminds us, our lives tell a good story after all. A Grace Revealed will helps us understand and trust that God is writing a beautiful story in our own lives.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2012
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639 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 13, 2013
Jerry Sittser understands pain. He understands loss. He understands grief. But more importantly, he understands that our life is a story of redemption, of connection to the person of Christ. While we cannot forget, nor should we forget, our painful times in life, we need to know that the God's story for our life is not over.
This is no mere glib, theological chatter. Sittser's family was in a car hit by a drunk driver nearly 20 years ago. In an instant, his mother, his wife, and one of his daughters, was gone. Three generations of women gone all at once, and Sittsler suddenly finds himself the single father of two daughters and a son -- all young.
Sittser wrote about the incident four years after it happened, in "A Grace Disguised." He now returns with more distance from the event. But what makes this work so powerful, is that Sittser is not writing a memoir, but using his story to tell the story of God's working out our redemption. "This book will not tell a sweet and simple story about tragedy leading to triumph. Still, I hope it will tell a redemptive story."
And it does. Sittser is inspirational not in that he, twenty years later, he is "handling" the tragedy well. Instead, he inspirational in how he seems himself in the context of a larger story, and he trusts God's authorship. This is not a self-help book, it is not called, "Using God to Feel Better About How Bad Life Is." It is about redemption. "Redemption involves the story of how God reclaims and restores us into a living relationship with himself so that we can become the people that God has always intended us to be."
Sittser organizes the book in way which focuses on redemption as a story. Chapters are about characters, "Scene and Setting," "Plot," "Author," and other story devices. The Bible itself is explored as a story, and in six of the most amazing pages I've ever read, he summarizes the entire Bible by relating it as a story. Sittser focuses on scripture for what he explores, and he quotes scripture (often at length) to show the story of redemption. So many books today, including Christian books, spend more time quoting other authors than returning to the source, which makes this book so strong, theologically speaking.
This is not surprising. Sittser is a professor of Theology at Whitworth College (and, I was pleased to learn, a fellow alum from Hope College). He has a unique gift for be theologically grounded, but clearly able to write for the layperson. And his unfortunate credentials in suffering create an authentic voice.
On a very personal note, this was a profoundly moving book for me. Myself a father of four, I am also the parent of a six-year-old who has been battling cancer for nearly three years. There is no longer much hope that this will be cured, and we have wrestled with this reality. I have written openly and honestly about this process since the outset, and many people have said, you should write a book. Well, Sittser has written the book I would want to write, and done it far better than I could ever do.
I knew at the outset that his voice would be one I understand. "God has written and played the key role in the story of salvation, which promises to redeem our stories....This glorious story of redemption turns on the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Savior of the world, who came into this world to make us new, which he accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. It is all his doing, a gift of pure grace. But we must receive this gift and make it our own, like children growing into adults."
That last line challenges us to not feel sorry for ourselves, but to accept God's grace and trust in his story. How many of us have wasted our lives, filling it with bitterness over real and imagined tragedies, instead of recognizing that God is not done writing our story. But we need to accept that gift, and accepting gifts requires humility. Some people are blessed with a natural humility, others learn it the hard way, but those who never see themselves in a larger context, who center their world around themselves instead of God -- well, there is the true tragedy in life. A stepping out of the story God is writing.
Sittser shares the story of a woman who, after many years of struggling, decides to meet the man who murdered her brother. And she tells him as she leaves, God wants him to know that "It is not too late to become the man that God designed you to be." Our stories are not over.
This is no mere glib, theological chatter. Sittser's family was in a car hit by a drunk driver nearly 20 years ago. In an instant, his mother, his wife, and one of his daughters, was gone. Three generations of women gone all at once, and Sittsler suddenly finds himself the single father of two daughters and a son -- all young.
Sittser wrote about the incident four years after it happened, in "A Grace Disguised." He now returns with more distance from the event. But what makes this work so powerful, is that Sittser is not writing a memoir, but using his story to tell the story of God's working out our redemption. "This book will not tell a sweet and simple story about tragedy leading to triumph. Still, I hope it will tell a redemptive story."
And it does. Sittser is inspirational not in that he, twenty years later, he is "handling" the tragedy well. Instead, he inspirational in how he seems himself in the context of a larger story, and he trusts God's authorship. This is not a self-help book, it is not called, "Using God to Feel Better About How Bad Life Is." It is about redemption. "Redemption involves the story of how God reclaims and restores us into a living relationship with himself so that we can become the people that God has always intended us to be."
Sittser organizes the book in way which focuses on redemption as a story. Chapters are about characters, "Scene and Setting," "Plot," "Author," and other story devices. The Bible itself is explored as a story, and in six of the most amazing pages I've ever read, he summarizes the entire Bible by relating it as a story. Sittser focuses on scripture for what he explores, and he quotes scripture (often at length) to show the story of redemption. So many books today, including Christian books, spend more time quoting other authors than returning to the source, which makes this book so strong, theologically speaking.
This is not surprising. Sittser is a professor of Theology at Whitworth College (and, I was pleased to learn, a fellow alum from Hope College). He has a unique gift for be theologically grounded, but clearly able to write for the layperson. And his unfortunate credentials in suffering create an authentic voice.
On a very personal note, this was a profoundly moving book for me. Myself a father of four, I am also the parent of a six-year-old who has been battling cancer for nearly three years. There is no longer much hope that this will be cured, and we have wrestled with this reality. I have written openly and honestly about this process since the outset, and many people have said, you should write a book. Well, Sittser has written the book I would want to write, and done it far better than I could ever do.
I knew at the outset that his voice would be one I understand. "God has written and played the key role in the story of salvation, which promises to redeem our stories....This glorious story of redemption turns on the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Savior of the world, who came into this world to make us new, which he accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. It is all his doing, a gift of pure grace. But we must receive this gift and make it our own, like children growing into adults."
That last line challenges us to not feel sorry for ourselves, but to accept God's grace and trust in his story. How many of us have wasted our lives, filling it with bitterness over real and imagined tragedies, instead of recognizing that God is not done writing our story. But we need to accept that gift, and accepting gifts requires humility. Some people are blessed with a natural humility, others learn it the hard way, but those who never see themselves in a larger context, who center their world around themselves instead of God -- well, there is the true tragedy in life. A stepping out of the story God is writing.
Sittser shares the story of a woman who, after many years of struggling, decides to meet the man who murdered her brother. And she tells him as she leaves, God wants him to know that "It is not too late to become the man that God designed you to be." Our stories are not over.
December 31, 2019
This was the most important book I read in 2019. I picked it up on a visit to Whitworth University (the author is a professor at Whitworth) and I’m so grateful I did. I’ve already recommended it to a few friends and suspect I will buy a few copies as gifts for friends and family in 2020.
The book reminded me that our lives are all part of a big, beautiful redemption story. It is what gives our lives context and meaning. God is the author of the redemption story and we know how it ends. So there is grace and beauty even in the most difficult and painful parts of life.
Read this wonderful little book if you are experiencing pain or loss or if you are walking through a valley with someone you love. You’ll be glad you did.
The book reminded me that our lives are all part of a big, beautiful redemption story. It is what gives our lives context and meaning. God is the author of the redemption story and we know how it ends. So there is grace and beauty even in the most difficult and painful parts of life.
Read this wonderful little book if you are experiencing pain or loss or if you are walking through a valley with someone you love. You’ll be glad you did.
October 1, 2024
Love Jerry’s’ 2 books. “A Grace Disguised” followed by “A Grace Revealed”. These will be 2 of my favourite books for a lifetime. On grief & redemption. I read “A grace revealed” as a devotional…little bits everyday. I highly recommend his books because I was easily able to place my own circumstances into his writing. Jerry’s interview can be watched on you tube “Nothing is wasted” 🙌 a fav You Tube channel.
September 14, 2024
This thoughtful and hopeful book reminds us that even though we live through losses, sometimes enormous life-changing losses, our stories can be part of God's overarching story of redemption.
October 12, 2013
The first half of this book was very well done, but then it became repetitive - I lost interest. Sittser is a winsome writer.
July 29, 2017
I was led to this book after the passing of my father-in-law. one thing I should say, and I think this rule applies to everyone, there is no guaranteed right-to-the-point solution to when you're suffering the grief of losing a loved one. 10 different people will require 10 different paths to their healing, this is important to remember as a book like this cannot have the same impact acrossed say all 10 of these people. the author intelligently mentions this fact throughout the book, and shares with you that the story is HIS story. I believe this to be the case in any such similar situation, that someone else's story may not provide the answer for yours. what a Grace revealed did do, IS help me to see how God's plan for my life is His plan for MY life! no one will have a story exactly the same as mine, because it is MINE. Sittsers book emphasizes this and, helps to get you in a place were you can understand this exact idea. Like an artist may work in clay or paint, God will use pain, hurt and even grief to create a masterpiece within you. keep your mind and heart open to change experienced through loss, and you'll be okay.
February 6, 2019
This is a wonderful book. Jerry Sittser's book A Grace Disguised is the best book I have ever read on grief and faith and this is a wonderful companion to it, written 20 years later after the loss of his wife, mother as daughter.
His reflections on the redemptive narrative in both our lives and the greater story of the gospel is woven throughout the book and brings together both personal reflections from his own suffering and his theological reflections as an academic. I am grateful for both the books he has written from his own experience of loss and the honest and Godly way they deal with the questions of suffering, loss and grief in the context of faith
His reflections on the redemptive narrative in both our lives and the greater story of the gospel is woven throughout the book and brings together both personal reflections from his own suffering and his theological reflections as an academic. I am grateful for both the books he has written from his own experience of loss and the honest and Godly way they deal with the questions of suffering, loss and grief in the context of faith
October 25, 2019
A fine book that needs to be read in sips, it bears so much reflection.
Today I spoke with a friend about a quote that is pertinent to our current lives:
"I wonder how many times in human history someone, looking back over the years on some tragedy, has spoken similarly: "I want my old life back again . . . But I want the change that occurred because I suffered the tragedy, too. How strange that is."
Both Sittser's books are so wise on the subject of grief and grace.
Today I spoke with a friend about a quote that is pertinent to our current lives:
"I wonder how many times in human history someone, looking back over the years on some tragedy, has spoken similarly: "I want my old life back again . . . But I want the change that occurred because I suffered the tragedy, too. How strange that is."
Both Sittser's books are so wise on the subject of grief and grace.
June 30, 2025
"Nothing is beyond the reach of God's grace and power. We can, therefore, trust that God will use the past to work redemption in our lives, which frees us to trust Him and obey Him in the current circumstances of our lives."
Years following the tragedy in his life, chronicled in A Grace Disguised, Sittser shares what he has learned of God's grace and love, and how each of our stories fit into the larger story of redemption in Jesus Christ.
Years following the tragedy in his life, chronicled in A Grace Disguised, Sittser shares what he has learned of God's grace and love, and how each of our stories fit into the larger story of redemption in Jesus Christ.
November 10, 2020
I read and love author's book "A Grace Disguised" and was expecting a book that author would tell his story in the following 20 years after the accident, and how God's grace is truly revealed in his life. I was kind of disappointed the majority of the book is just another theology doctrine.
I do need to admit that I am still deeply touched by some of the stories in book.
I do need to admit that I am still deeply touched by some of the stories in book.
Read
March 3, 2020Very good read. Following this author through the other side of the tragedy and now years down the line. How faithful God was as well as the community he was a part of. They were faithful to him and his children. How important.
March 16, 2024
I needed to read this book slowly as it was so rich in story and theology. Deeply reassuring about the bigger purpose of grief and its place in the whole narrative of our lives, I found this book absorbing and compelling, as was its prequel A Grace Disguised.
December 1, 2024
Sittser's second book paints the beautiful picture of the love of Jesus, the power of redemption, and the assurance of God's Grace if we but ask Him into our hearts. So glorious, fulfilling, and assuring!
May 20, 2017
Some reminders and new perspectives of the story of our redemption that is presently being played out in each of our lives if we choose.
May 21, 2020
Jerry Sittser is an inspiration.Grace revealed is raw emotion and true beliefs.This book is a must read this,is a real eye opener.
April 22, 2022
Inspiring story of loss and learning to lean into God and your faith to make it through.
June 27, 2022
“Our longings run deeper than we think; our deepest desire is not for mere signs but for what the signs point to.” (page 132)
September 23, 2022
So good!!!
July 21, 2023
Enjoyed hearing more of the story from 20 years ago and he is a solid theology teacher.
January 23, 2018
I read this book as a sequel to A Grief Disguised because I enjoyed the previous book so much and I was not disappointed. This book builds on the first, and considers story/narrative with our lives. As someone who’s especially interested in the role of narrative in our individual lives, as well as in our families and communities, I found this book very helpful.
February 27, 2015
Jerry Sittser speaks from a place of suffering to other Christians, encouraging them in their own hardships. Throughout his testimony he illuminates the principle of biblical redemption. The value of redemption is especially close to Sittser’s heart. Two decades ago Sittser lost three generations of women in one tragic car accident. His mother, wife, and daughter were all lost on the same day, leaving Sittser and his three other children lost and mystified. Following such a tragedy Sittser was left wondering how such suffering and sadness could be redeemed for God’s glory.
A Grace Revealed is the sequel to Sittser’s first book, A Grace Disguised. His first book was a testimony of the tragedy and God’s presence; the second is the story of how God redeems that story. Life sometimes leaves us empty, wondering why things have happened to us and why we are so broken. However, Sittser explains there is hope for even the deepest pain.
As Christians, we strive to live in Christ who makes all things new. Sittser recounts how we are complete in Christ, yet we are still being shaped; this is redemption. On this note, Sittser offers accessible metaphors to clarify what redemption looks like and what it means. One of his most useful metaphors describes human lives as God’s masterpieces. Comparing human life to a sculpture, he asserts that we begin as plain slabs of marble but God chips away at our hearts, molding us into the creation we were intended to be.
I felt Sittser’s metaphor of heaven and earth was especially poignant. Sittser tells of how his family saw a picture of a scene so beautiful they decided to vsit the site in reality. When they visited the site of the photo it was infinitely more beautiful than the picture captured. Sittser illustrates the profound reality that this is the nature of heaven and earth. Earth is merely a picture; Heaven is the real deal. Earth can’t compare to the majesty that is to come. This is yet another beautiful illustration Sitter gives God’s redemption.
Sittser encourages Christians not to lose hope. He reminds us that God wants to redeem every story, and that no person is too lost for Him to save. He uses biblical wisdom to remind his reader that God can use the past. He uses what was broken and makes things new. He redeems the story of the world with the gift of His Son. Many things in scripture that seemed irredeemable, God redeemed. If He was able to do this in scripture, He can do it in our lives.
Sittser also provides hope in a strange way: stating that we are powerless to change the past. Yet, how we remember the past determines the path of our future. We can sit around and mourn the past, or we can move on. We can allow our story to be redeemed. We must make the choice to cling to Christ Jesus and live in that true joy.
In A Grace Revealed Sittser shares God’s desire to claim us as His own. He shares his own story and how God redeemed tragedy. God’s desire is to redeem the story of our individual lives. We must make the choice to come to Him, broken as we are, willing to be vulnerable and let Him complete His work in us. I challenge you to dive into Sittser’s writing and consider how it might apply to your own story. Ask yourself how God has already redeemed you and consider what areas in your life still need redemption.
A Grace Revealed is the sequel to Sittser’s first book, A Grace Disguised. His first book was a testimony of the tragedy and God’s presence; the second is the story of how God redeems that story. Life sometimes leaves us empty, wondering why things have happened to us and why we are so broken. However, Sittser explains there is hope for even the deepest pain.
As Christians, we strive to live in Christ who makes all things new. Sittser recounts how we are complete in Christ, yet we are still being shaped; this is redemption. On this note, Sittser offers accessible metaphors to clarify what redemption looks like and what it means. One of his most useful metaphors describes human lives as God’s masterpieces. Comparing human life to a sculpture, he asserts that we begin as plain slabs of marble but God chips away at our hearts, molding us into the creation we were intended to be.
I felt Sittser’s metaphor of heaven and earth was especially poignant. Sittser tells of how his family saw a picture of a scene so beautiful they decided to vsit the site in reality. When they visited the site of the photo it was infinitely more beautiful than the picture captured. Sittser illustrates the profound reality that this is the nature of heaven and earth. Earth is merely a picture; Heaven is the real deal. Earth can’t compare to the majesty that is to come. This is yet another beautiful illustration Sitter gives God’s redemption.
Sittser encourages Christians not to lose hope. He reminds us that God wants to redeem every story, and that no person is too lost for Him to save. He uses biblical wisdom to remind his reader that God can use the past. He uses what was broken and makes things new. He redeems the story of the world with the gift of His Son. Many things in scripture that seemed irredeemable, God redeemed. If He was able to do this in scripture, He can do it in our lives.
Sittser also provides hope in a strange way: stating that we are powerless to change the past. Yet, how we remember the past determines the path of our future. We can sit around and mourn the past, or we can move on. We can allow our story to be redeemed. We must make the choice to cling to Christ Jesus and live in that true joy.
In A Grace Revealed Sittser shares God’s desire to claim us as His own. He shares his own story and how God redeemed tragedy. God’s desire is to redeem the story of our individual lives. We must make the choice to come to Him, broken as we are, willing to be vulnerable and let Him complete His work in us. I challenge you to dive into Sittser’s writing and consider how it might apply to your own story. Ask yourself how God has already redeemed you and consider what areas in your life still need redemption.
May 14, 2016
This is a wonderful book, a great sequel to the author's earlier book A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss. Looking back 20 years after the tragic events described in the previous book, Jerry Sittser speaks with clarity and wisdom gained from painful, yet redemptive, life experience. This book will be a great help to readers who struggle to live their lives as part of the story, God's story. No sentimentalism, no platitudes, no theological abstractions. Just plain practical wisdom and encouragement for how to stay in the "redemptive story" of God's grace and mercy in spite of the suffering, difficulties and disappointments life brings. This book is another great gift to readers of A Grace Disguised.
September 8, 2016
Well written and well thought out this book investigates the relationship of humans with God using a literary metaphor. If that last line doesn't make sense pick up the book and it will. Sittser gives the layman access to theological ideas by challenging the reader to think deeply about God's redemptive love and using an honest recount of his own personal loss among other examples. I strongly recommend this text to book clubs and anyone want to discover or explore redemption. The book leaves a pleasant aroma of God's presence in one's own life.
November 29, 2015
3.5. Sittser updates his life 20 years after his mom, wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver and his family was altered. His first book spoke more out of his raw pain; this book has more perspective as he looks back. He frames his story in the grander narrative of God's story which I really appreciated. His chapters go with that theme and titles are aptly named, "Characters", "plot", "setting" etc. There is a hope in this book that God is in control, even when humans can't fully see the end of their earthly story.
February 15, 2015
This is sold as a companion to 'A Grace Disguised: How the soul grows through loss' (which is the best Christian book I've ever read) but it also works as a stand-along book. The author talks about how the Bible is story and our life is story and part of a bigger picture, even if it's difficult to see for us. The circumstances of our lives matter less than how we respond to them and how we live our lives. It's a challenging and uplifting book.
November 12, 2015
Beautiful book and thought provoking. I really had to concentrate when reading, sometimes taking notes which is why I gave it three stars instead of four stars. It wasn't a book that I really looked forward to reading because it was so deep and more challenging to read than others but because I was reading it for my Bible study group I stuck with it and am glad I did.
October 12, 2015
A well written book, easy to read. I liked the content very much, even though I have a problem with the concept of redemption, as if we weren't created quite right and need to be saved from that. Also, I wonder whether Sittser has every considered the possibility that God and the Holy Spirit may not have an exclusively male gender. Other than that, I found the book helpful and positive.
March 24, 2013
This is a man who didn't dwell on his personal tragedy, but allowed God to guide him raising his remaining children while still working, and to be open to what God had in store for him. It is a beautiful story but is not so much about his family and trusting God.
April 28, 2013
Such an enjoyable book. Honestly, I was expecting it to be a little more personal, but I enjoyed the theological meat he presented.
August 11, 2013
Do you struggle to wrap your mind and heart around the reality of redemption. If so, I believe you will find this book helpful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews