Midwest Book Review Selects Grace Revealed as Reviewer's Choice!
Reviewer's Choice
Grace Revealed: Finding God's Strength in Any Crisis by Fred Sievert
Broadstreet Publishing Group, Inc
Reviewer's Bookwatch: July 2019
Midwest Book Review
On Line Book Club Reviewer, Mindi
When reading a book such as Grace Revealed: Finding God's Strength in Any Crisis by Frederick J. Sievert, it should leave a person completely confident that God's grace is more powerful than any other solution to problems. Through the extremely emotional experiences of various people in this book, the consistent thread of grace was intertwined throughout all of them.
This is a story describing the many crises that we may face in life and the inherent need of God's grace in all of those crises. Sievert begins the book by explaining the Bible's message of grace and his own thoughts on how this affects us throughout any problem or situation. He explains that the life of a Christian follows three phases: Experiencing a crisis, receiving grace, and returning grace to others. After explaining his thoughts, he divides the book into chapters about different types of crises that people may face, such as various types of abuse, addictions, physical and medical conditions, family issues, grief and tragedy, and career-related issues. Each chapter contains several stories from various people Sievert has encountered that fit into that that particular type of crisis. The stories are very emotional accounts of what those people faced and how they were eventually redeemed in some way, only by the grace of God.
Each story is very emotional, whether you have experienced something similar or not. Almost every person has experienced some form of crisis in their lifetime, and it is very likely that at least one of these situations could be somewhat similar to their own challenges. After each story, Sievert reflects on his thoughts about that situation and how evident God's presence was for that person.
The majority of the stories contained some type of way that the crisis victim was able to reach out to others and make a difference in others' lives after being redeemed in their own journey. That reflected the step of "returning grace to others" that Sievert said was almost always a part of the spiritual, redemptive journey of Christians who are facing a crisis. I was moved to tears so many times during this book and could see so many common threads between these stories and either my own life or the lives of people I have come in contact with at some point in life. It was amazing to see how some of these people, especially those who were victimized in some way, were able to put bitterness and contempt from certain situations to rest and pass it over to God's hands, therefore starting their journey of healing and redemption.
The author wrote so many inspirational quotes throughout the book. One that particularly moved me was, "Instead of seeing the past as a detriment, begin to see it as a stage for God to display his power." He also used many verses that related to God's power and grace in times of crisis.
I highly recommend this book, as some aspect of it should hit home with most readers. Be ready for a very inspirational and uplifting story. It is well-edited, and I cannot think of anything negative about this book. I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. Please check out this life-changing book if you have the chance!