Lisa Whittle - The Hard Good: Showing Up for God to Work in You When You Want to Shut Down

2021 Lisa Whittle

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

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Scripture quotations marked CSB are from the Christian Standard Bible. 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Whittle, Lisa, author.

Title: The hard good : showing up for God to work in you when you want to shut down / Lisa Whittle.

Description: Nashville, Tennessee : W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: At our very core is the desire to be Gods woman or manfaithful, having fulfilled the potential God created in us. To reach that point, sometimes we have to endure hard things, things God has designed for good, to supernaturally shape us into the people he wants us to be. When we choose to accept the hard good, we discover our lifes purpose, and he promises to give us the joy and passion as our deepest longing is fulfilled Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021008828 (print) | LCCN 2021008829 (ebook) | ISBN 9780785232018 (paperback) | ISBN 9780785232025 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Christian life. | Diligence. | Perseverance (Ethics) | Providence and government of GodChristianity.

Classification: LCC BV4509.5 .W465 2021 (print) | LCC BV4509.5 (ebook) | DDC 248.4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008828

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008829

Epub Edition June 2021 9780785232025

Printed in the United States of America

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To my fathers in the two chairs of my heart...

Daddy: the irreplaceable original, who I miss every day

And John: the one I made room for

I WISH LIFE COULD JUST BE GOOD. FUN. PLEASANT. MEANINGFUL. Predictable but also adventurous. And that good would last foreverdevoid of fear, anxiety, tragedy, heartbreak, betrayal, and grief.

But thats not the way life works. Maybe its because we live in a sin-soaked world not capable of perfection. Or maybe its because without the bitter, is it even possible to appreciate the sweet? Without the dark would the light ever be appreciated for the gift it is? And without the hard would we recognize the good as good?

I cant think of a person better equipped than my friend Lisa Whittle to tackle the hand-in-hand partnership of the title of this book: The Hard Good. She knows the angst of hard in deeply personal ways. She knows the choice of good because her heart purely seeks Jesus, and she truly wants to make a holy difference by helping others.

But its in the combination of both words, hard and good, that shes learned to wear wisdom like that old sweatshirt thats your favorite because its so broken in. At times life has broken Lisa, as it has all of us. But while fully acknowledging her heartbreak, she is equally committed to having it work for her and for a good that she pursues relentlessly.

I love her for that. And I am grateful to her since I need this reminder as much as anyone.

Once, while working out together (aka dying and trying to make sure your T-shirt stays pulled down to hide the obvious reality of the back side of lifeinsert big-eyed emoji), I was asking her questions about this book. I reversed the title and said to her, Look at us doing the good hard things on this workout.

She graciously tilted her head and kindly corrected me, hard good. End on the good. The hard is part of the journey, but the good is where we will land.

Brilliant.

Ive thought of this conversation just about every day since.

Some things in my life right now are so hard I sometimes have to remind myself to exhale. I can find myself swept into a panic attack as unexpectedly as a person enjoying the beach one moment and swept away by a tsunami the next. And my deep desire for normalcy is sometimes hijacked by choices that arent my own and yet affect me so deeply I want to hide in the nearest bathroom stall.

How can any of this be good?

I imagine youre asking this same question over something or someone in your life right now. And youre wondering if it is even worth it to try reading another book. After all, its hard to get high on hope only to quickly get knocked down by your circumstances again, leaving your soul questioning everything. We need more than pat answers, plastic suggestions, and an author with too perfect of a life to truly understand our desperation. There is a lot at stake here.

Well, friend, breathe. Settle in. Dare to crack open these pages. Find a friend in Lisa that will be gentle when needed. Challenging when appropriate. And so very gracious as she cares for your pain. You can, as I do, trust her with your heart. Lets do this. Together we will discover the hard good is the best goodeven if, especially if, you seriously doubt that right now. Youll soon see. This will be a book you keep on that one shelf signifying never give this one away. If you ever come over to my house, thats the shelf where mine will be.

Speaking of getting together, lets do that sometime! Me, you, and Lisa enjoying chips and queso and cupcakes. I mean, why not? You have a long T-shirt, right? Together we can do the hard good.

Love you!

Lysa TerKeurst