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Beside Bethesda: 31 Days Toward Deeper Healing

Review

Beside Bethesda: 31 Days Toward Deeper Healing

Most people have heard of Joni Eareckson Tada and know her story. A diving accident in 1967 left her a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Joni struggled not only with her physical disabilities, but also mentally, battling suicidal thoughts and doubts about God and His will for her life. But she defied the odds and has gone on to thrive. Joni is a renowned mouth artist and a sought-after inspirational speaker, who has touched lives and changed the hearts of millions around the world. She is also a bestselling author, whose book titles include HEAVEN: Your Real Home, FINDING GOD IN HIDDEN PLACES, DISABILITY AND THE GOSPEL: How God Uses Our Brokenness to Display His Grace, and JONI AND KEN: An Untold Love Story.

Eareckson Tada’s most recent release is BESIDE BETHESDA, a 31-day devotional toward deeper healing. This is a book of short meditations that uplift, inspire and encourage readers to rely on God --- and God alone --- to heal their souls from brokenness and to meet their needs, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. She openly and honestly tells of her own experiences with the pain of “unanswered prayers” and shares how she learned to adjust her focus and fix her eyes on the God who loves her and has a plan for her life, despite the challenges and sufferings life on earth can bring.

"The devotions are simple yet thought-provoking. They are brief yet packed with powerful truths. Eareckson Tada’s down-to-earth writing style and vulnerability, along with her profound spiritual insight, make it well worth the read."

The end of each chapter includes a section on “Going Deeper” --- scriptures that correspond with that day’s teaching --- followed by a paragraph of Joni’s personal thoughts and/or encouragement to the reader.

You’ll find chapters that deal with finding Jesus in the middle of your hell. Your role in eternity. How you are God’s masterpiece. What to do when you are “squeezed.” How to bless your critics. The timing of God’s grace (which usually isn’t our own). How to weave straw into Gold. And much more.

BESIDE BETHESDA is a small book, perfect for the nightstand or to keep in the glove box to pull out when you’re waiting in the carpool line. The devotions are simple yet thought-provoking. They are brief yet packed with powerful truths. Eareckson Tada’s down-to-earth writing style and vulnerability, along with her profound spiritual insight, make it well worth the read.

The theme of the book can be summed up by the following paragraph, taken from Day 12: The Source of Our Courage: “Our bouts with physical or emotional suffering keep waking us up out of any spiritual slumber we might find ourselves in. Trouble and hardship are textbooks that repeatedly instruct us who we really are, and remind us that we aren’t the towers of strength or paradigms of virtue we sometimes like to imagine we are. Suffering sandblasts us, stripping us of our sinful ways, leaving us raw and exposed --- so that we might be better bonded to the Savior.”

There may be no better author than Joni Eareckson Tada to write this book. If one thing is for sure, this incredible woman of God is the ultimate example of how to turn a life of suffering into a journey of deeper healing. If you are looking to experience the same, then pick up a copy of BESIDE BETHESDA and let the healing begin.

Reviewed by Lynda Lee Schab on September 18, 2014

Beside Bethesda: 31 Days Toward Deeper Healing
by Joni Eareckson Tada

  • Publication Date: September 1, 2014
  • Genres: Christian, Nonfiction
  • Hardcover: 176 pages
  • Publisher: NavPress
  • ISBN-10: 1612917127
  • ISBN-13: 9781612917122