A Gentle Thunder (by Max Lucado)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m so glad that I picked up some books by Max Lucado when a friend was getting rid of them. I had read some of his quotations in a variety of places, and often found them apt, sometimes thought-provoking. I don’t agree with all his beliefs - he is an American pastor, although not connected with fundamentalists - but I appreciate the thoughtful way he writes.

The book ‘A Gentle Thunder’ (subtitled ‘Hearing God through the Storm’) has, as its broad focus, the idea of God using any means he can to catch our attention. The author reminds us repeatedly that God loves us so much that he will use any means possible to reach us: whether whispering, shouting, nudging, cajoling… and all we need to do is to respond.

As with the other books I’ve read by Max Lucado, this one is divided into around 30 short chapters, just five or six pages in each. Each one starts with a very short quotation from the Bible, and the content of the chapters often includes an anecdote from the author’s life, or someone else’s. Lucado is a good story-teller, and he is able to make some excellent points.

Indeed my only jolt came in a section where he wrote, in a jokey kind of style, about reaching a major milestone age-wise.  I hadn't checked when this book was published, and did not know how old the author was anyway.  But from his friends' comments and his own admitted concerns, I assumed he was referring to turning 70, at least.  I hoped it wasn't 60... so was shocked when it was just 40! And then he goes on to talk about how, when he reached that age (just the start of being middle aged, in my view) he started thinking more about old age and funerals.  That was rather depressing.

I don’t know that I learned anything new when reading this (other than the author's age when he wrote it, back in 1995), but that’s not the point of devotional books of this kind. I read just a couple of sections each day; this is not a book to read in one sitting, but one to ponder, and think about, as he reminds the reader of just how much they are loved, and what steps God is willing to take to help us love him.

The book is divided into two broad sections: His Voice, and Our Choice. So the first part looks at different ways God gets people’s attention, in the Bible and in various situations in more recent times. The second part is more directly theological, with some overt evangelistic sections, but even those aren’t too pushy.

All in all, I thought it a good book, one I might read again one day. Recommended to anyone who isn’t sure if God really cares for them, or who would like to know, in a fairly informal setting, ways in which God ‘speaks’.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews