Book Review: When God Doesn’t Fix It

When God Doesn’t Fix It:

Lessons You Never Wanted to Learn; Truths You Can’t Live Without

By Laura Story

with Jennifer Schuchmann

I stumbled upon this book when I was searching the library catalog for something else, but the title immediately caught my attention.  As a Christian counselor in Fishers, I thought about how many of my clients are in this same position— praying for one outcome but losing hope that God is going to answer that prayer and make a change in their situation.  This is especially true for clients seeking Christian counseling for grief or anxiety.  The second thing that caught my attention was the author’s name:  Laura Story— I recognized that name as a Christian singer and songwriter, especially known for her 2011 song “Blessings.”  I decided to check it out and am glad I did— I couldn’t put it down (and also can’t get the song out of my head!)

This book is Laura’s story of her marriage and family with her husband Martin.  I won’t spoil it for you, but you’ll find out early in the book that Martin suffered from a brain tumor just a year into their marriage, and the couple experienced lots of ups and downs in the process of his surgeries, rehab, treatment, and adjustment to this “new” normal.  Instead of there being a clean “end” to the story— tying a neat bow on how they struggled through it but eventually got back to their normal pre-tumor lives— their adjustments and healing are ongoing.  In other words, God didn’t seem to just come in and fix everything.

In the process, Laura is very open about how her own human selfish, sinful nature impacted their relationship and her ability to trust God through this life-long process.  Through the years of this family experience unfolding, Laura wrote the song “Blessings,” which later was awarded a Grammy:

“Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise”

I really liked the structure of this book.  Each chapter weaves in more of the story, as well as tying in Biblical elements that Laura was learning along the way.  She ends each chapter with a Myth and Truth that she learned during that particular season of life.

My favorite part was from Chapter 19:  “While our broken circumstances may not change, we can. We can do this by clinging to Scripture, discovering who God truly is, being willing to share our story even in the trials, and looking for blessings in our brokenness.”

This chapter ends with:

MYTH: Things have to get better before I can get better.

TRUTH: My situation might not get better, but I can get better.

I really appreciated this perspective because I often talk with clients who finally realize that trying to change their situation (or another person) has not been working.  Trying to change things on your own leads to frustration and anxiety.  Thankfully, there is hope that even if the situation doesn’t change, we can.  We can trust that God has a bigger purpose for what’s happening (even if we might not ever find out what that is). 

I’ll leave you with the song behind this book, and also the offer to walk with you on your “God’s not fixing this” exploration.  It can often to be helpful to have an objective person to talk to when you’re going through hard situations that don’t seem to be letting up.  If I can offer support to you during your season of “My situation might not get better, but I can get better” journey, please let me know.  (Also, good luck getting this song out of your head!)