Book Review: God’s Best During Your Worst
If you, or someone you love, have received heart-wrenching news, then you’ll want to dive into this book review: God’s Best During Your Worst: Living Under His Umbrella written by Robin Luftig.
Following a seizure, Robin struggled to make sense of her doctor’s diagnosis. A fist-sized tumor gripped her brain and skull. She was given ten days to get her affairs in order before undergoing brain surgery.
Ten days.
Ten days to process her fears, uncertainties, and purpose.
Before her first symptom ever appeared, Robin sensed God whispering to her heart, “Do you trust Me?”
We discover the answer as Robin takes readers with her on her ten-day journey.
About the Author
First of all, allow me to introduce to you Robin Luftig. She writes non-fiction and God’s Best is her second book.
She also founded Renew Ministries, “sharing with women that God has a plan for their lives—a plan that includes healing. She tells of redemption and triumph over brokenness; how there is no place so far from God that he cannot reach through and redeem a willing heart.” Robin speaks to audiences on healing after tragedy.
In addition, she writes for magazines such as Leading Hearts, CBN.com, and others. She and her husband live in Pennsylvania and they attend Lighthouse Church in Harrisburg. They have five grown children and two grandbabies.
On a special note, I underlined several things Robin said in God’s Best During Your Worst that I want to remember. Here are two of them:
Unfortunately, we need adversities in our lives. They give life depth. The saying, “all sunshine makes a desert” rings true. (p. 72)
You can read all the stories in the Bible you want, but it isn’t until your faith has been through the fire and God has sustained that you will be able to trust He’ll be there again. (p. 92)
God’s Best During Your Worst Table of Contents
The Table of Contents includes:
- Foreword
- The Big Question
- Chapter One – Moment of Truth
- Chapter Two – Confusion
- Chapter Three – Doubt
- Chapter Four – Focus
- Chapter Five – Trust
- Chapter Six – Heartache
- Chapter Seven – Surrender
- Chapter Eight – Faith
- Chapter Nine – Gratitude
- Chapter Ten – Peace
- Chapter Eleven – Grace
- Chapter Twelve – Now What?
- Chapter Thirteen – Lived Promises: God at His Best
- God is Trustworthy
- Practicing Gratitude
- About the Author
- Endnotes
Chapter Highlights
God’s Best During Your Worst doesn’t contain stand-alone devotions but rather each chapter builds on the next.
Also, each chapter begins with “The Morning’s Prayer of Uncertainty” followed by one of Robin’s journal entries.
The chapters are not sugar-coated but filled with Robin’s raw emotions and thoughts during those ten days. She talks about how fighting all the “what-if-isms” is one of her greatest flaws.
Most importantly, Robin reminds readers of the truths from the Bible which teach and reaffirm God’s love and purpose for our lives.
Each chapter ends with a thought-provoking question and a journal page for the reader to record her thoughts.
Also Included
I love the quotes sprinkled throughout the book. One of my favorites that Robin included in her book (p. 72) was by actor Michael J. Fox who she said “wrote in his best-seller, Lucky Man, how the years of heartache became the best years of his life—not in spite of his illness, but because of it. Dealing with and coming to terms with his Parkinson’s disease moved him from an ambitious, driven person to a more reflective and understanding one.”
“If you were to rush into this room right now and announce that you had struck a deal … in which the ten years since my diagnosis could be magically taken away, traded in for ten more years as the person I was before—I would without a moment’s hesitation tell you to take a hike ….
I would never want to go back to that life—sheltered, narrow existence fueled by fear and made livable by insulation, isolation and self-indulgence.”
Michael J. Fox, Lucky Man (New York, NY: Hyperion, 2005), 5-6.
Furthermore, in chapter thirteen, Robin includes inspiring stories from additional people who have been strengthened through tragedies.
My Recommendation
I recommend this encouraging book for women—teens through adults—who are going through a difficult time and long to be reminded of God’s presence and love through it all.
In addition, I recommend you visit the author’s website. You’ll find a free download of study questions to use with small groups who are reading God’s Best During Your Worst.
What are your thoughts? Have you experienced a tragedy and emerged with a different perspective on life?
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.
