Saturday, October 18, 2008

Lost In The Middle...It's not just about midlife.


I just began reading Lost In The Middle by Paul David Tripp, who is a counselor and faculty member of the School of Biblical Counseling at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. He's also the author of so many wonderful works, such as War of Words, Instruments In The Redeemer's Hands, and Age Of Opportunity.

I picked this book up after a very intense week of family conflict, I was intrigued by the back cover, "The Bible never discusses midlife, just like it never discusses teenagers." funny how the Lord places great books in your life at just the right time.


This book isn't just for people going through midlife, it's for anyone who is hurting and is seeking the healer that can guide them through every stage of life. So many times we approach the Bible looking for answers to our problems or situations that we find ourselves in, as Paul David Tripp states, " The Bible is a narrative, and because it is a narrative, it tells us everything we need to know about midlife concerns. (or any situation that we find ourselves in) The Bible is the great story of redemption that encompasses the story of every human life." The beautiful thing about the Bible is that it covers everything in life without ever being exhaustive, it not only addresses all of the situations that we find ourselves in, be it midlife, dealing with teenagers at home, marital issues, etc. as Mr. Tripp puts it, " The great narrative of the Word of God gives me everything I need to know about God, about myself , about the purpose and meaning of life, and about what is true, good, and beautiful. The Bible is the lens through which I look at all of life."


The Bible never directly discusses life experiences by name , however it gives us lessons for understanding the experiences and teaches us how to respond to them. Paul David Tripp gives four biblical perspectives to interpret the deepest issues of life, "The Bible presents us with a real world, Introduces us to real people, The Bible calls us to the worship of a real God, and finally it Welcomes us to real redemption."

Like in his other works, Mr. Tripp presents a clear accurate picture of the Gospel, "What I grapple with most is not the evil outside of me, but the evil inside of me. If there is no help and hope for what is inside of me, there is no way that I will ever properly deal with what is outside of me."
We have to deal with what the root problem is and that is sin. God uses the inadequecies and sin in our lives to reveal our desperate need for Him, the ultimate thing that we need is not answers to our deepest questions or resolve to the overwhelming problems in our lives. What we need is a deeper knowledge of our perfect Father, not to discount the hard things that we experience but those hard things point to a desperate much deeper need, the need to know God.

I'm looking forward to continuing on in this wonderful work by Paul David Tripp and getting to know the One who will stand with me in the middle of the place that I find myself in and show me more of His grace.
You can pick up your copy at the Westminster bookstore, just follow the below link.

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