When
Mountains Won’t Move: How to Survive a Struggling Faith
by Jacob Hawk
These days we hear a lot about people losing
their faith, finding their faith, or being lost and eventually shoring up their
faith near the end of life, but rarely do we hear about surviving a struggling
faith. Pastor Jacob Hawk in his new book,
When Mountains Won’t Move, seeks to
address the issue of struggling faith with a sincerity and biblical
faithfulness that is both wonderful and unique.
The beauty of this book is that Jacob doesn’t wave to us from the side
of the road as we read but opens up his own struggles with faith, giving us a
sense that we are on the same road as he.
Jacob lays the table at the beginning of his
book by addressing some similar experiences humans face; the hard work of an
employee hoping for a promotion but being passed over, and the death of a
family member. These events catapult us
into the front row of a theatre that is playing the movie Struggling and Not
Sure How to Move on. We cringe at the
thought that life is not supposed to be this way. Yet, Jacob offers us some sane medicine that
soothes even the deepest pain. In the
chapter 2, Jacob writes that the first principles is to Embrace Weakness, “to
confess that we don’t have it all together, to admit…that even we-Jesus
following, Bible-believing people – need to return to the basic matters of
faith (19).” There is a healing that
occurs when the church exudes a beautiful solidarity for others as we all
confess with Jacob, “We’re broken too.
Let’s heal together (26).”
In this little book there is simple yet
profound message here about struggling faith and the church. After Jacob’s youth group in sixth grade went
to Arlington, Texas to help paint the house of a Mr. Pheres, a retired painter,
the strength of the gospel showed up on their return trip. Mr. Pheres, though not sure about the kid’s
painting quality, embraced this act as a moment of grace. He writes about his own struggle with faith, “I’ve
heard a lot of sermons in my day. For 80
years, people and preachers have visited my house, begging me to come to
church. I’ve read books. I’ve been to seminars. I’ve even been to the potlucks. But I never believed it, and I never
understood why, until I met you kids.
When you painted my house, on your own time, with your own money, I
finally saw the love of Jesus (53).”
Yet, Jacob challenges those who see the church
as irrelevant, boring, or full of hypocrites by pointing out that the church is
real, a gift, heavenly, it cares and its stable. Even more, he asks a pointed question, “Do
you really think that if you turn to your job, your money, or anything else,
you will always find what you need (78)?”
If the church has damaged your faith, an apology is on offer. Although the church can’t bring healing to
every scar we experience on this earth, she does offer grace, healing, and hope
without reservation.
I was really encouraged by this book and the
way Jacob really offered healing to those with struggling faith, including
myself.
Thanks to Start2Finish and BookCrash for the
copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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