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Copyright 2019 by Shauna Letellier
Cover design and illustration by Connie Gabbert. Cover copyright 2019 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked ( NASB ) are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations marekd ( AMP ) are taken from the Amplified Bible, copyright 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations marked ( ESV ) are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked ( NLT ) are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked ( KJV ) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Letellier, Shauna, author.
Title: Remarkable hope : when Jesus revived hope in disappointed people / Shauna Letellier.
Description: First edition. | Nashville : FaithWords, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018037098| ISBN 9781455571710 (trade pbk.) | ISBN 9781455571703 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: HopeBiblical teaching. | Bible stories, EnglishGospels.
Classification: LCC BS680.H7 L48 2019 | DDC 232.9/5dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018037098
ISBNs: 978-1-4555-7171-0 (paperback), 978-1-4555-7170-3 (ebook)
E3-20190102-JV-NF-ORI
If youre feeling sucker-punched by life, if your dreams have turned to ashes and you can muster no hope for the future, hang on to the hope youll find in these pages. There is a purpose and a plan in the struggle youre facing. And the hope God offers is not only available but ready for the believing. Shauna Letellier has written another dangerous book about people who dared to fully trust in God.
Chris Fabry, author of War Room and host of Chris Fabry Live
Shauna Letellier has done a remarkable service for those of us whose hopes in Christ at one time or another have buckled under the weight of some unbearable disappointment. She deftly moves between the first century and our own to give biblical precedent for the legitimacy of our own doubts, questions, and confusion. In doing so, she encourages us by showing that those responses are not distinct from biblical hope but rather are distinctive aspects of it. An affirming devotional for either personal or group use.
Ken Gire, author of Moments with the Savior and Windows of the Soul
I read Remarkable Hope during a season of being blindsided by gut-wrenching disappointment. Id lost more than hope: Id lost all sense of direction. Vicariously experiencing Jesus reviving hope in these vividly retold Bible stories helped me regain footing in my own new narrative. In the tender places where your heart is broken, Shauna is a trustworthy guide, gently leading you toward healing, hope, and surprising joy.
Cheri Gregory, cohost of the Grit n Grace podcast and coauthor of Overwhelmed and You Dont Have to Try So Hard
In Remarkable Hope, familiar biblical stories spring to life with new power and perspective, and a newfound hope takes root in the life of the reader. Letellier has done it again!
Cindy Lambert, coauthor of Unplanned
Few components of the Christian life are more necessary than hope, but what do we do when hope is shattered? Shauna tackles this question and its variants by guiding us through scriptural accounts of people just like usfull of confusion or consternation, facing a crisis or a crossroadand how their lives were changed by the One who created, and is bigger than, our hope. Shaunas masterful storytelling drives us into the middle of a stark situation, pulls our heartstrings, and turns a mirror on our feeble attempts to determine what God is up to. This book helps align our expectations with powerful truth and shows us the deeper level of a true and lasting hope.
Yolanda Smith, writer and editor
Shauna Letellier is establishing herself as a writer who can not only identify and clarify deep feelings and questions, but also bring biblical meaning and help to people who need it. In Remarkable Hope, she again pinpoints specific disappointed people in the Scriptures and gives us a glimpse of what God might be about in their lives. And that is the genius of this book: We see God at work reviving hope in troubled hearts, troubled times.
Invitingly written, youll find it hard to put down, and your soul will drink in these life-giving words. Shauna uses biblical characters to show us our own need. She selects theological thinkers to reinforce application for us. This is a blend of substance and emotional connection, perspective and deep passion, help and hope.
Gregory C. Carlson, PhD, chair and professor of Christian Ministries and Leadership, Trinity International University
For my mother, Cheryl.
You have weathered devastating disappointmentswidowhood, the death of a son, the puzzle of nurturing a blended family, grieving for grandbabies you never held, the hospitalization of children and grandchildren, ailing parents, and the burdens of your friends and family. You clung to Jesus. Thank you for showing me how to live an unexpected life of remarkable hope in Christ.
This hope is not an imagination, not the projection of wishes upon the dim curtain of the future, not the child of calculation, but a present reality within arms length of us all.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture
Why, my soul, are you downcast?