What people are saying
“Examines—with moving honesty, sharp insight, and deep faith what it means to suffer, how to suffer, and why and understanding and acceptance of suffering is essential.”
—Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well
“In this remarkable debut, K.J. Ramsey arrives as both neighbor and guide, deftly weaving vulnerable storytelling, clear theology, and a compelling therapeutic framework.”
—Shannan Martin, author of The Ministry of Ordinary Places
“K.J.’s exquisite offering comes from the depths of suffering and from a whole heart. She’s a woman whose vulnerability makes it easy for you to relax into the wild and wondrous story of God, and to see how God’s design of human brains and bodies invites participation in the life of the suffering servant. A wondrously healing book.”
—Chuck DeGroat, author of When Narcissism Comes to Church
“K.J. is a modern-day prophet. As K.J. unfolds, it is in your story of suffering that you mysteriously come to know the One who gets down on the floor with you, and sits in the fire of your ache. All you who are weary, welcome.”
—Adam Young, licensed therapist and host of The Place We Find Ourselves
This book is not a before and after story.
Our culture treats suffering like a problem to fix, a blight to hide, or the sad start of a transformation story. We silently, secretly wither under the pressure of living as though suffering is a predicament we can avoid or annihilate by having enough faith or trying harder. When your prayers for healing haven't been answered, the fog of depression isn't lifting, your marriage is ending in divorce, or grief won't go away, it's easy to feel you've failed God or, worse, he's failed you. If God loves us, why does he allow us to hurt?
Over a decade ago chronic illness plunged therapist and writer K.J. Ramsey straight into this paradox. Before her illness, faith made sense. But when pain came and never left, K.J. had to find a way across the widening canyon that seemed to separate God's goodness from her excruciating circumstances.
She wanted to conquer suffering. Instead, she encountered the God who chose it. She wanted to make pain past-tense. Instead, God invited her into a bigger story.
This Too Shall Last offers an antidote to our cultural idolatry of effort and ease. Through personal story and insights from neuroscience and theology, Ramsey invites us to let our tears become lenses of the wonder that before God ever rescues us, he stands in solidarity with us. We are all mid-story in circumstances we did not choose, wondering when our hard things will end and where grace will come if they don't. Together, we can encounter grace in the middle, where living with suffering that lingers can mean receiving God's presence that lasts.
“a comforting, candid memoir. ramsey refutes the perception that suffering results from a lack of faith.
— Publisher’s Weekly