by Kay Arthur
WaterBrook, $14.99, 272 pages
Perhaps the most poignant moment of Kay Arthur’s new book When the Hurt Runs Deep: Healing and Hope for Life’s Desperate Moments comes midway through the book when she describes her own marriage at age twenty and subsequent divorce from a bipolar man. Arthur’s former husband, Tom, committed suicide several years after their divorce, and Arthur writes of the three assurances she heard from God in the days following: (1) “In everything give thanks,” (2) “I won’t give you anything you cannot bear,” and (3) “I will use this for your good.” No matter what our pain, Arthur writes, the Lord will find a way to bring it to light: “You will be all right and more than all right. The healing that is beginning in your heart this very moment will grow and grow until it finally overflows and spills over into the lives of others,” she writes.
Arthur openly tackles such painful issues as sexual abuse, murder, divorce, and deception, recounting the tales of others and using both Old and New Testament references to present a biblical worldview of healing. While her book contains nuggets of insight and her midpoint personal stories are memorable, much of it is repetitive of other Christian self-help and healing books. Kay Arthur fans will find it of interest, while the rest of us could just as easily look to other sources on healing and recovery.
Jennie A. Harrop