Book Review – God Longs to Heal You
Image: God Longs to Heal You by Len Lantz (CC BY-NC-ND)
Synopsis: Len's Star Rating: 4 out of 10. A wide-ranging book with Christian spiritual perspectives on aspects of trauma and negative life events.
BY LEN LANTZ, MD / 2.24.2022; No. 74
Disclaimer: Yes, I am a physician, but I’m not your doctor and this article does not create a doctor-patient relationship. This article is for educational purposes and should not be seen as medical advice. You should consult with your physician before you rely on this information. This post also contains affiliate links. Please click this LINK for the full disclaimer.
Star Rating – 4 out of 10
Rating guide: 1 = horrible, 5 = average and 10 = wow
Author
TD Jakes
About the author
TD Jakes is a speaker, best-selling author of dozens of books, and leader with approximately 40 years in Christian ministry. He was the founder and senior pastor of Potter’s House, a 30,000-member church, where he currently serves in the role of Bishop. In 2001, Time magazine named TD Jakes as “America’s Best Preacher.”
General description
God Longs to Heal You is a Christian book with a wide view on the various areas of healing, forgiveness, encouragement, and power that God provides to people who have experienced trauma and other negative life experiences. TD Jakes shares stories from his life throughout the text and advises that one of the first steps to having God heal you is to reveal to God what you want to be healed.
Unique and most important aspects
God Longs to Heal You contains stories from the author’s life and ministry, and the author provides recommendations for coping with negative life events and trauma through Bible verses, encouragement, and persuasive reasoning. The subtitle of this book is Free Your Body, Mind, and Spirit. While the author briefly shares his own past battle with depression, he does not go into depth on strategies for dealing with depression or other mental health conditions.
Best quotes
“Regardless of the atrocious behavior we discover when we work with the flawed material of human insufficiency, we must remember that the only antidote is in the presence of the Lord. I am convinced that the very people who need healing the most have been driven away from the only Healer they will ever find in this world.”
“I built a wall of unconcern to hide the deep depression that had engulfed my life. If you don’t usually attend to things with an organized plan, then you won’t be able to relate to what I am saying. Normally I am a stickler for details. However, during my time of depression, I became indifferent about whether or not things were done – I simply was ‘disconnected.’”
“The letter to the Philadelphia church, the church of brotherly love, basically ends with the words, ‘I am the One who closes doors.’ The art to surviving painful moments is living in the ‘yes’ zone. We need to learn to respond to God with a yes when the doors are open, and a yes when they are closed.”
“Leave my Judas alone. I need him in my life. He is my mysterious friend, the one who aids me without even knowing it. When you encounter a Judas in your life, remember that it is his actions that carry out the purpose of God in your life! Look back over your life and understand that it is persecution that strengthens you. It is the struggles and the trauma we face that help us persevere.”
“Jesus laid aside His garments. That is what ministry is all about. It requires you to lay aside your garments. Lay aside your personal ambitions and visions of grandeur. Gifted people tend to be some of the most egotistical, self-aggrandizing, eccentric individuals the world has ever seen. That is why ‘being gifted’ in itself will never deliver anybody. Ministry is birthed when you are stripped down to your heart’s desire, when beneath every other thread of whimsical grandeur, something in your heart says more than anything else, I want my life to have counted for something. I want to accomplish something for God.”
Who would enjoy this book?
Readers who are interested in a broadly ranging book from a Christian perspective that addresses trauma and setbacks would likely enjoy God Longs to Heal You.
Who would not enjoy this book?
Readers who are interested in a Christian book on trauma or mental health conditions that provides a methodical examination and recommendations are unlikely to enjoy God Longs to Heal You. Note: this book contains homophobic content.
Conclusion
God Longs to Heal You is a wide-ranging book with Christian spiritual perspectives on aspects of trauma and negative life events.
