Faith, Doubt, and God's Mysterious Timing: 30 Biblical Insights about the Way God Works

by Laurie Polich Short

When God's Plan Is Unclear

What in the world is God doing? It's easy to wonder this. We are living in an unfolding story, and it's hard to hold on when difficult circumstances linger, or your deepest prayer hangs in the air, seemingly unanswered. Thankfully the Bible is filled with people who experienced the same thing. They had to learn to trust God's way and timing--and their stories give us insights to live that way too.
Mining often-overlooked passages of Scripture, Laurie Polich Short has unearthed 30 practical, encouraging gems of wisdom found in the faith and lives of biblical heroes to help you

· see more of God's work as it unfolds in your life
· have hope in circumstances that previously felt hopeless
· be more comfortable--and possibly even excited--to lean into the unknown

Here is your compass to living your story well when the way forward is unclear.

" Why, God? What are you doing, God? Questions at the crossroads of faith and doubt can lead us to dead ends or to new vistas. Laurie's brilliant, biblical insights will help you see the map from God's mysterious perspective."--JOHN BURKE, New York Times bestselling author of Imagine Heaven

Genres: Faith, Nonfiction

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2023

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short sheds light on insights you may have known but forgotten, and connects them in a way that encourages and lifts the veil. Highly recommend!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Faith, Doubt, and God's Mysterious Timing, Laurie Polich Short explored key Bible stories about the ways that Christ works and how we can grow in our faith. This book is a follow up book from her book on Bible verses. In the beginning of the book, she looked at the stories of Joseph and Job. When we explore Joseph, we can witness how our perspective can change over time. She shared how critical it is to remember the power of God and how we don’t need to underestimate what He can accomplish through whatever circumstances and challenges we may encounter. The entire story of Joseph displays how events were meant to harm him and instead it turned out to be for his good even if he didn’t realize it at the time. Job story is about how he suffered and lost everything and how we can choose to see God as our companion when we go through suffering. She explained how both Joseph and Job were changed and shaped by their hardships they had to endure and this in turn can encourage us when we are going through difficult seasons. We can also look at our own lives to see how God used our pain and suffering and how He can cause everything to work together. We may even discover new meaning of our painful seasons in life. She shared how in her own life that she was engaged and how she lost that relationship and connection with his children. Years later, she married a man who had a six-year-old son and she shared how all of this worked together for her good and prepared her for the future.



I would recommend this awesome book on stories from the Bible to anyone who is struggling in their faith and maybe even doubting or wondering where God is or if He is still even there. This book is a very inspirational book that contained 30 stories from the Bible. I liked how it enclosed stories about Job, Joseph, Peter, Ruth, Caleb, Joshua, Abraham, just to name a few. I thought this book was very unique in its approach to the message and how she dove into the core message of the scripture passages and explained them in detail. I believe this was very helpful to teach readers the principles and things they might not have seen before in the verses. One of my favorite reminders she discussed was on how peace doesn’t come when the crisis is finally removed. It’s available when we are going through the crisis and we can remember that God is still in control of all of our steps. I really enjoyed how she described how the disciples were afraid of the storm and how Jesus taught them an important lesson about faith. This book would make a great 30-day devotional and allow readers to bring a section a part and really focus on the lesson and teaching of the passage.




"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard to have faith when we have no idea what God is doing. Short shares her insights on the experiences of people in the Bible, and a few of her own, to help us see our story as something in a much larger story God is doing. From Moses, for example, we see God's training may take much longer than we ever thought. Other experiences help us see what happens when we try to take control of our life or when we compromise. Short encourages us to get back on the path when we wander and to let go of expectations, rather being willing to be open to what God has in store.

There are many additional insights in this book. One is that when we expect God to provide only prosperity and comfort in our lives, when those are taken away we will think He has abandoned us. (125) God sometimes takes us through hardship, holding our hand, resulting in mature faith. From the woman with the issue of blood we learn that when God delays in acting, He may be working on something much bigger than we had thought.

The lesson that had the most impact on me was from Peter's experience in John 21. (128) Jesus tells him of his future suffering and Peter's response was to ask about John, “What about him?” Isn't that what we do? God brings us into some difficulty and the first thing we notice is someone else whose life seems to be going along swimmingly. Jesus' response to Peter is wisdom for us. Don't concern yourself with someone else. Follow Jesus. Each person's life is different. We must concern ourselves with how we respond to what God has given us, not what He has given someone else.

Much of the text is the retelling of biblical stories so this book would be suitable for a new Christian. There are reflection questions at the end of every chapter so even seasoned Christians will find material for spiritual growth. Reading this book is an encouragement to stay open to what God is doing in our life, trusting in God's plans for our future as we live out our part of a much larger story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

[Sandy Quandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the things I especially appreciate in Faith, Doubt, and God's Mysterious Timing by Laurie Polich Short, is the way she takes familiar stories from the Bible, and points out how God met each person in their faith and doubt to show his perfect timing and sovereignty.

We read about Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Joseph, Moses, David, Paul, and others in these pages. We see how, through faith, they navigated God's seeming unanswered prayers, and way-off timing. And we understand, just like them, we can trust the One who orchestrates our path.

There are many nuggets of inspiration within the pages of Faith, Doubt, and God's Mysterious Timing. In case you're wondering if this is a book for you, here is one of Laurie's nuggets. The call to hardship is not a sign of God's displeasure. Laurie Polich Short

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

[Christine Polli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book study that I have done by Laurie Short. Our bible study class has developed a relationship with her. She came to our ladies luncheon last year and we participated in the book launch of this book. Laurie has a way of writing that breaks things down simply but in an impactful way. She is down to earth and real; she shares her life story/lessons because she understands that life is hard. I love the way she can take a seemingly unimportant bible verse or story and shed light on God's message. All of her books are worth reading.

[Kathy White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such an excellent read…I am a fan of Laurie Short and have read most of her books but this one stands out for me. Difficult times are hard to understand as a Christian…Laurie looks at the ups and downs of life through many unique stories in the Bible and it has matured my faith tremendously! Anyone who reads this book, no matter what they are going through, will get a fresh perspective of God and how He is there and works in our lives in all circumstances.

[Bruce Kirkpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful Biblical teaching in the way that God works. Through 30 different stories in the Bible, Laurie opened up many new perspectives for me that helped me understand exactly what I was going through. God's perspective, not just mine--and that was so valuable to give peace and calm to any experience. This one's easy to recommend.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as a book study with some friends and really enjoyed it for the season of life I’m in. We all agreed that it highlighted important scriptures from the Bible to provide encouragement during tough seasons. Gods plans don’t always make sense and His timing can be hard but it provided a lot of encouragement in a hard season.

[Diana Duell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book by this author I have read. The first 8 chapters didn't really speak to me and were familiar to stories in her other books. The last two chapters spoke to me more. I read this book as part of a group study.